#she's stubborn and narrow minded and thought her way is the only way to save belobog because she's traumatized

[mirokuna-hime]

The HSR fandom on reddit and twitter already managed to mischaracterize Topaz as a heartless debt collector and called her a product of bad writing because she has a flawed personality.

This is why we can't have nuanced characters in this house.

The game is telling us multiple times that Topaz main goal is to save the planet of Belobog and not to collect the debt, yet people still got that wrong.

Topaz honey, I'm getting you and Numby out of here these people don't deserve you

#hsr topaz #honkai star rail #hsr #like if you don't like her that's 100% okay #but so many people straight up misunderstood her character #she's stubborn and narrow minded and thought her way is the only way to save belobog because she's traumatized #the whole conflict of having to choose between freedom and security was great too

[vivgst]

She hates monotony and loves the new challenge she finds in you, so she won't rest until she gets her way, as always (Part three).

Just one part left yayy, btw Idk what is happening but I think Tumblr is not showing my posts so pls INTERACT with this thanks<3333

TW: guns I guess, Idk how to use tw leave me alone.

Part of her expected that, to wake up and realize that you weren't by her side, that you had run away… such a coward. However, she did not expect to go to the club and not find you, as if earth had swallowed you and she began to get desperate.

Playing hard to get and not being afraid of her was one thing, but disappearing without telling her? It wasn't exactly the best thing you could do and she would find you, she would search even under the stones.

For now she was already at the club so she would try to make it worth it, she tried, she really did but it was difficult for her because she had already gotten used to the cold vibe that surrounded you, your arrogance, your stubbornness.

Having a woman in front of her who looked like a scaredy cat didn't exactly cause any memorable reaction, so she rolled her eyes.

“Are you new, chula?” She asked without much excitement, the woman who was in the room with her shook her head, Valeria wanted to die, this was not going to work...

She took a sip of her whiskey before getting up from the couch and leaving money on the table, she couldn't go back to be with women who were scared to even breathe the same air as her, women who weren't you. She needed the challenge, the swearing, the cold eyes.

So she would find you, she didn't even have to work for it, just ask here and there about you and soon she had an answer.

“I didn’t give you my home address.” You narrowed your eyes at her, she completely ignored you and walked in, walking around the place as if it was hers and gave you a look that was somewhere between mocking and impressed.

“Nice place, how many clients do you have daily to own a place like this?” You shrugged, the truth was that you didn't need too many clients when the one who had gotten you the place was only one, however you were a pain in the ass.

“Quite a few, I usually can't count them with one hand.”

"Careful". She gave you a stern look and you almost grinned, but you saved it. You walked to the kitchen and poured yourself a glass of wine, Valeria looked at you from top to bottom, that black silk robe was quite tight, quite short, almost...

“Did you come here to fuck me?” You brought her out of her thoughts with that question and she scoffed, you were impossible, as blunt as usual.

“Fucking god…” She muttered, shaking her head and took a moment to look into your eyes, the truth is she didn't have an answer in mind, I mean, what had she thought when she came to your apartment? “I came because you were running away from me.”

“And if you know I'm running away from you, why the hell are you still looking for me?” You spoke in a monotone voice and Valeria gave you a look full of disbelief, you were detestable even though you were right but that didn't make you any less detestable.

"Because I can".

“I’m not going to have sex with you again.”

"Why?"

"Just because". That made Valeria growl in frustration, it was so difficult to get you to talk, she wanted to yell at you but even that wouldn't work. You took a sip from your glass and looked at her thoughtfully for a few seconds before speaking again. “I don't like to enjoy it, I don't like to have sex for pleasure.”

She moved closer to you, cradling your face in her hands as her gaze burned into yours and you decided to blame the few sips of wine you had taken for the sudden urge to kiss her that you were feeling.

Valeria could notice something else in your gaze, guilt, perhaps, but she didn't ask any further, she didn't want to make you angry or uncomfortable.

"So… did you like it?" She asked in a mutter, her hands sliding down your body until they wrapped around your waist and pressed her body to yours, you placed your hands on her chest, you needed her to pull away but you wanted to have her close. You had mixed emotions and you let her take advantage of that, you let her bring her face closer to yours, your lips parting, inviting her to kiss them.

"I liked it". You admitted in a whisper and that was enough for Valeria to capture your lips in a kiss, a little slower than the previous ones you had shared. Her lips slid over yours almost tenderly and you clung to her, to her arms.

“Let me get you out of that place.” She spoke between kisses and you shook your head, you couldn't, you had problems to deal with and you didn't know if you would ever be able to escape from that place.

“I can't, no…” You said panting, pulling away from her, your lips still tingling with the feeling of the kiss, you hated wanting her so much.

Valeria was going to protest but was interrupted by the doorbell, she frowned, who was looking for you so late at night?

She felt even more confused when she looked at your face, you looked scared. You weren't even afraid of her, there were bodies covered with narcomantas all over the town thanks to her and her desire to mark territory and you never hesitated to tell her to go fuck herself so, who could make you scared like that?

"You have to go". You spoke as you hurried to throw away the remaining wine from your glass and almost dragged her to the door, Valeria wasn't going to protest, she was going to watch.

You opened the door to a tall man, his long hair tied in a ponytail and he probably had more tattoos than years, he didn't look like a gang member but more like a rich kid, his gaze and Valeria's met for a slight moment as she left your apartment and once she was outside she began to hear a lot of yelling, which made her lose her patience a little.

She went to the parking lot and once she was inside the car she had an internal battle between getting back and punching the bastard in the face or just leaving. She had a lot of questions, she wanted to know if that idiot was the one who had hit you, if he was the client who had made you get used to violence and why the hell you depended on him so much.

And since she knew very well that her questions would fall on deaf ears, she would look for the answers herself.

“Pues la familia tiene varo, son franceses y medio gringos, él sí nació aquí” (Well, the family is wealthy, they’re half French and half Americans, he was born here though). Diego spoke as he went through the folders with the information he had gotten of Kyle, the boy Valeria had seen in your apartment.

“Hmm… ¿Y por qué chingados le paga todo?” (Hmm… and why the fuck does he pays everything for her?) She mumbled thoughtfully, she had a lot of information about him, but Valeria was getting nowhere with all this, he had kept you out of his life it seemed.

“Pues no sé, wey” (I don’t know, dude). Diego spoke and cleared his throat when Valeria glared at him, he couldn't afford not to have the answers she wanted. “Pero se la pasa en el club el vato, yo creo que vive del varo de los papás” (But he is always at the club, I think he lives off his parents' money.)

“Lo más probable, está morro aún” (Probably, he’s still young). Valeria looked at Diego for a few seconds before taking the folders and looking through them, she felt stupid for going to such lengths for you, you would probably be mad at her, again.

She gave a couple more instructions to her men before she was left alone in the mansion, she was thinking what the hell she would do.

She didn't need information to threaten him, fuck the reasons why you were seeing him, she would get him away from you and that's it, she had no laws and she didn't care how rich that kid was.

The boy's smug look swept over Valeria from head to toe and she narrowed her eyes at him, she was in no mood to take shit from anyone, much less from that brat.

"You can't touch me." He spoke and she let out a mocking laugh, giving him a condescending look. If Valeria hated something, it was being challenged, there was no one untouchable for her, she had no laws.

And to prove her point, she pulled her gun from the holster on her hip and shot him in the leg, making him scream in pain, fear, or maybe both, finally his gaze had the fear she thought it should have in a situation like the one he was in. She approached him, crouching slightly to look him in the eyes intently.

“There are no rules in cartels, kid. I don't want you to touch her, to pay for her things, to look at her, I don't want you to go to the club again to breathe the same air as her, do you understand?” He didn't respond, he was dizzy from pain and fright, Valeria didn't give a damn though and pressed her gun on his wound, he growled, looking at her with rage but nodded, he couldn't speak.

“Take him back, tell the family what will be left of him if he keeps sticking his nose where it doesn't belong.”

Diego and Álvaro almost dragged him out of there and she let out a sigh, talking to you would probably be another headache because you were stubborn as a mule and refused to accept help but Valeria couldn't help it and especially after having seen that expression of fear on your face that had made her blood boil, she had to meddle.

So she got busy concluding her work and that same night she went to the club, you were there, wearing another of those dresses that made you look out of this world and she was enthralled for a moment.

“Damn woman…” She muttered sounding bitter, you drove her crazy, just seeing you from afar made her feel a thousand things that she couldn't explain.

And all those feelings only increased once your gaze met hers.

#valeria cod #cod x reader #valeria garza #valeria garza x reader #valeria mw2 #valeria x reader #valeria garza smut #valeria garza x you #valeria garza cod #call of duty #call of duty modern warfare #cod modern warfare #cod mw2 #cod mwii #modern warfare #mw2 #lesbian #wlw #sapphic

[flowerxguts]

…—————＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚ OC FICLET ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊—————…

“Eleanor, you’ve got to be fucking with me.”

“I’m not! Can you take me seriously!?”

Eleanor is hot on her older brothers heels, arms thrown out incredulously. There’s something border-lining hatred in her eyes.

Dion walks briskly in-front of her, aggravation motivating his fast-pace movements. He beelines straight for the kitchen, hoping to avoid blowing up at his sister, but her stubborn nature causes her to follow him.

She cannot see the tenseness in his brow, the way his lips twitch, the sting of her proposal sour. Once he reaches the sink, he half-slams the dishes down, narrowly missing the strength to break them.

“No.” His voice is rough, emotion he was hoping to hide bleeding through.

“Oh, no?” She questions rhetorically, her mocking manner evident in the way she tilts her head to the side. “You get to make all my life choices now?”

“Yes!” He yells over the running water, trying his best to focus on cleaning their dinner plates. He can feel his patience ticking with each second, so he keeps his responses short. He’s afraid of what he’ll say if Eleanor doesn’t stop relenting.

This conversation is not one he wanted to have. Their mom should be out of the picture by now, an unfortunate memory in the back of his mind, and a vague figment in Eleanor’s.

He doesn’t understand why she thought it would be okay to reach out, and only to Eleanor at that. Perhaps she knew he would see right through her false promises and pretty words. Because at the end of the day, Dion knew who his mom was. Eleanor didn’t. He saved her from that.

“Can you at least look at me when I’m trying to talk to you?!”

Dion snaps.

“That woman is nothing but a self-absorbed addict, Eleanor! She’s never going to change! She’s always gonna be a fucking liar!” Eleanor tries to cut in, defend her case, but Dion continues, only growing more worked up. “You want to run back there? Who raised you?” He asks, jabbing his finger in her face. “I did.”

Once again, Eleanor opens her mouth for a rebuttal, but is cut short when her brother takes a step towards her, “After everything i’ve sacrificed to make sure you didn’t have to go through what I did?” Dion breaks, the unexpected voice crack an unfortunate sign of youth that makes his argument all the more painful.

“You’re not listening to me.” Eleanor pleads in pure frustration.

A part of her understands her brothers outburst. This wasn’t a subject he would ever want to discuss, but it was happening, and she wishes he would face it. If he would just listen for more than twenty seconds she could get her point across, express that she wasn’t proposing “all is forgiven”, and running back to her. She wanted to visit their mom, test the waters. She believes everyone is deserving of redemption.

“You want to go see her?” Dion asks, demanding tone causing Eleanor to take a step back. He leans forward until he is in her face and it is only then Eleanor truly registers the look in his eyes. Betrayal. “Go ahead, but don’t bother coming back here.”

Her brothers words are said completely level, the contrast stark to his previous yelling. He is serious, or at least presenting himself as it, because the sudden resentment in his voice is more than convincing.

“Di—“ She tries, voice meek. He doesn’t listen, narrowing his eyes the slightest bit more before standing up straight and stalking off to his room.

Eleanor stands alone in the kitchen, a loss for words.

Dion was stubborn, maybe even more so than her. He was stuck in his ways and impossible to get through too without a big scene with an even bigger action following.

She was shaken by his words, yes, but ultimately did not believe them. If he wanted to play it that way, fine.

Eleanor scrunches her nose, nails slicing her palm. She takes off towards the direction of her room, determined to make Dion hear her.

She packs her bags.

#old cw assignment #oc ficlet #oc fic #oc: dion #oc: eleanor

[katyspersonal]

Also I don't know if this is just me, but upon replaying Bloodborne I swear I've noticed that Gascoigne is the only summon that haven't healed himself with blood vials even ONCE when I summon him. He just fights and doesn't budge even with low health?

If this is not just a coincidence, this actually makes hella sense? He is easily SO lost in the hunt and aggression that he just goes straightforward without any regard to his wounds and health! Even his younger daughter knows he can forget himself (and his family) in the hunt, not being able to notice he is approaching death is only natural!

Alternatively, he did cut ties with Healing Church, and maybe doesn't use blood healing on principle, knowing that it causes weakened will and beasthood? And thinks just not using blood vials could save him (oof...). Henriett is heavily implied to have ditched working for the Church, that'd make her second character like this and she heals herself! So it'd cause interesting case where she acknowledges blood usage itself is still the source of hunters' power and not mending your wounds won't help you - just self-control can keep you longer. But Gascoigne is just too stubborn, haha. Besides the smell of blood already drives him insane, only natural he doesn't want to inject any.

I think both work? Interestingly, the window of his house does have bottles places on its windowsill, same as on the sill of narrow-minded man. They could be blood based drinks - alcohol is no longer a thing in Yharnam as it was replaced by blood "medicine" either. So maybe at least Viola consumed them when he no longer wanted any of this, and that was part of the reason he grew so paranoid he killed her too. Like, she was full of blood turning people into beasts so that's a matter of time, right? ...or, again, maybe they are both okay with this and he literally is just too lost in the hunt to think of his wounds. I personally like the 'he is just stubborn in no longer approving of blood' interpretation slightly better :thinking_emoji:

Either way I hope it is not just how game is for me and he LEGIT just is programmed to not heal himself because that'd be a cool small detail! Also sad/dark thought - it IS possible his older daughter could sneak to sip from those bottles too while no one's watching because some of them stressed teens turn to such things early.

#bloodborne #father gascoigne #fandomry rambles #bloodborne headcanons #...alternatively if this IS the case maybe he is just like this so area is not too easy with him lasting longer #but i do not do the 'but its a videogame' in this blog xD #plus miyazaki is too sneaky for it #id post screenshot of the window but i am stuck away from computer for a bit #on the other hand bottle models are really noticeable so maybe everyone remembers anyways

[mydisenchantedeulogy]

Story WIPs (what I'm currently working on all at once).

Multi-chapter Fics: 

Where the Tainted Kiss CH 24 (Vaas)

A wad of cash was tossed into her face, but Liv didn't attempt to collect it. She kept her head down, even as Yada spat on the ground next to her. 

"You happy puta (bitch)? You got what was owed to you."

She wasn't happy; she didn't want Barto to die. It should have been her beneath the earth.

From the Ashes CH 2 (Reno)

"Thank you. I appreciate this," Amelia stated. She equipped it onto the bangle around her wrist. "All I need are these two."

"Don't be such a spoilsport. I have something special I've been saving up for an occasion like this," Liana retorted. 

She reached into her bag for a second time and retrieved a green orb, tossing it to Amelia, who easily caught it and lifted it into the light. 

It's not a magic type. That much I can tell.

Amelia narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"I know what you're thinking, but it's not a healing orb. I don't expect you to learn it right away, but to learn from it, I need battle information. You're the best suited for this type of Materia," she explained, lifting a finger.

Of course. She wanted to use Amelia as a test subject. 

"Thanks, I guess, but what is it?"

And why was she the only one it was suited for? 

"It is the 'Time' Materia, containing the ability to slow down or stop time. I can't believe some idiot grunt was going to throw it away. Materia is hard to come by–"

"Focus," Amelia ordered. 

Liana tended to ramble when excited. 

"Anyhow, you just equip it to your bracelet and cast it like you would any magic Materia type. The effects don't last long, maybe twenty seconds at best, and the more you use it the weaker it gets, so try not to rely on it to save your butt or you will exhaust yourself," she added. 

Legends Never Die CH 2 (Link)

There was no other choice; she'd have to fight too. But of the four beasts she could summon, who would assist her? Lilya narrowed her eyes. Apus was not suited for battle, despite being an intermediate-ranked summoning, and the Great Sage – the lowest tier – was too stubborn to assist her without payment.

I have to call on her, Lilya thought.

Taking out her earring, she rested the point against her palm and clasped her hand shut, groaning as it pierced into her skin. The summing circle appeared before her; Lilya raised her bloody hand out to it.

"Come forth, Ara––"

"Lilya, you must not!" Raina shouted.

The said teen raised a brow in confusion. Was she serious?

"I can help," Lilya argued. "Stop being so self-centered. You can't do this alone."

Raina shook her head. She opened her mouth to say something but an arrow suddenly pierced her shoulder.

Fragile Lines CH 11 (Nacho)

Ria drummed her fingers on her knee, trying her best to focus on the movie. She wanted more than anything to give all her attention to Nacho but her mind was swarming with questions after her brief meeting this morning. It was driving her insane. 

A comforting hand on hers drew her attention to the man beside her, noting the curious look on his face. She forced a grin and curled up next to him, leaning her head onto his shoulder. Goosebumps littered her arms as he laced his fingers with hers. Ria could get used to this. 

Too bad her ex was hell-bent on ruining her mood. 

Desert Flower CH 7 (Grimmjow)

His tone implies that he doesn't necessarily want me to be there but he steps aside and lets me in. I stand beyond the threshold in awe, staring at the room I walked into. It's dome-shaped with a winding staircase in the center. One of the most common elements in the room is the various plants; it reminds me of a desert paradise with its cream-colored theme.

"This way," the man insists as he brushes past me.

I follow him up the staircase to the top floor, noticing three others including Grimmjow seated around the room; the latter is laid out on cushions and pillows. This room in general gives more of a laid-back vibe; various plants and fish bowls with gorgeous ecosystems decorate the room; it's interesting just how different his tower is from the previous one I have seen.

"Grimmjow, you have a guest. She claims that she is expected," the man announces.

The room turns to me in interest; my face turns red in embarrassment. I should be used to this sort of attention being from a royal family, but judgment has never been a favorite of mine.

Grimmjow grins.

"And I thought you'd tuck your tail and run."

Requests:

Lily Eyes (Buddha)

An air of nervousness surrounds you as you stop for a moment, taking an uneasy breath. You hope this will work.

Pretending to slip from the rung, you let out a gasp as you fall back, trusting the man below. Your stomach knots in fear as you plummet, but luckily Buddha catches you with ease. 

"That could have been much worse," you utter. 

His brows knit. The pattern rests in his eyes as he stares at you for a moment. 

"It's a good thing I was here to catch you, huh?"

You nod. 

"I had no doubts."

You and I (Vaas)

"Do you like games, Vaas?" You ask, kneeling beside his cage. "I love them. It's a sure fucking way to cure boredom on this island during this period of negotiations. But I can never find anyone to play them with. My men don't like to play by the rules and some of the rejects whine too much. Boo hoo, you are unfair… Boo hoo, this game isn't fun for me."

"You bored, querida (darling)? I'll fucking play with you," Vaas retorted. 

A grin spreads across your face. Something about this is odd; prisoners should not be so eager to agree, but his madness is intoxicating. You love it. 

"You see, I knew you would be fun."

Reaching into your pocket, you retrieve the pen knife found on the stout-looking man, popping off the cap. The blade is covered in blood.

"I want to play first blood. It's a simple game; whoever wounds the other first wins. And you even get to have this," you explain as you show him the pen knife. 

One-shots:

Unnamed Benimaru OS 

"Wow! Are you from my world? You know…the real world with manga and video games," the last bit Rimuru utters under his breath.

Your pointed ears twitch in excitement. 

"You too were brought here?"

"Yeah…long story short, I sort of got taken out by a rando with a knife. And when I woke up, I was a slime," he mentions with a sigh. 

A slime? Like the ones in Dragon Quest? You hum in thought. Come to think of it, you don't remember how you died. 

"I guess I got reincarnated as a dark elf. I mean, I'm not complaining, but my arrival wasn't very welcoming."

#writing wip #far cry 3 fanfiction #vaas x oc #better call saul fanfiction #nacho x oc #that time i got reincarnated as a slime fanfiction #benimaru x reader #bleach fanfiction #grimmjow x oc #vaas x reader #record of ragnorak fanfic #buddha x reader #final fantasy 7 fanfiction #reno x oc #the legend of zelda fanfiction #link x oc

[junietuesday]

working on a hades wip, angsting zagreus and his canonical lack of door KDHDKDHSJD. was supposed to be maybe 4-5k words but everytime i think that it ends up blowing up far past that :/ this is already 7k and i still have a scene and a half to finish off. anyways this happened to coincide w a massive megzag kick im on so take a few hundred words from my wip <3 rated m just be warned bc hadesgame always does this to me

—

“I thought I told you to be quiet,” Megaera scolds, pulling away, and Zagreus gasps for breath. “You don’t have a damn door, Zagreus. The louder you are, the higher the risk of getting caught. As you pointed out, we’re not meant to be doing this.”

“You pointed it out first,” says Zagreus, glad that his voice comes out more-or-less steady. And then, coyly: “And doesn’t it reflect well on your talent if I can’t help but—”

“Zagreus, I will leave you here.”

“It’s not like it’s my fault I don’t have a door,” Zagreus says, and it comes out sharper than intended. But it’s difficult to keep up a flirty, positive attitude, faced with Megaera’s…Megaera-ness. “If you really were worried about it, we could’ve gone to your chambers instead. Since you’re so much more trustworthy and deserving of a door.”

“You think I’d let you in my personal chambers?” Megaera scoffs. “Don’t kid yourself. Now, enough of this—I don’t want any of your childish gripes.”

Childish. Kid. Senselessly, the words grate on his nerves. And so does being so carelessly dismissed.

“Look, I can take a little degradation, if that’s your thing—” it seems like it must be Megaera’s thing, if not really Zagreus’ “—but I really don’t appreciate all this talking down at me. You know, I technically outrank you.”

“So you’re pulling rank now, is that it,” Megaera says, low and scathing. “Well, Prince Zagreus, if you wanted me to treat you like an adult, you should’ve acted like one first.”

His title feels like a mockery in her mouth. Zagreus glares. His blood still burns, but in a heavier way, now. “I was under the impression that it was your job to make me grow up,” he snaps. “Any immaturity of mine is only a reflection on your poor performance.”

“Don’t you dare talk to me about my work performance,” Megaera snarls. “I’m Overseer for a reason. I earned that position through my own hard work. And what are you? A willful layabout, ungrateful for his coveted place in this House, granted it only through his parentage and nothing more.”

Silence. Zagreus’ feet flare with a flash of light, white-hot as his anger; praise the gods for fireproof bedding. Megaera would never let him hear the end of it otherwise. And isn’t it lovely that this is where his mind roams, fleeing the words that strike too close to home.

When Zagreus doesn’t respond, Megaera’s mouth twitches in an almost-smirk. “Nothing to say to that, huh,” she says, back to almost cordial now that she’s won. “Told you I’d shut you up, one way or another. Now.” With one hand, she reaches back down, and traces a line down his hip with her fingernail. With the other, she picks up her whip. “Unlike you, little man, I don’t leave a job unfinished. Let’s see how long you last.”

The answer to that, as it turns out, is not long at all. Zagreus trembles under her hands, and her mouth, and her whip. They’ve done this a number of times now, but he’s still not used to how intense it feels, compared to his own touch. Nonetheless, he tries to hold himself together, wanting to draw this out just a little longer—and, though he would never admit it aloud, wanting to save some scrap of face before Megaera.

“You’re being obstinate,” Megaera murmurs. “Always so damned stubborn. Just come already, Zagreus.”

And, with a moan, he does.

His feet burst into flames that lick up to his calves. His back arches against the bed, mind going deliciously blank. His awareness narrows to where Megaera’s skin meets his own; to where he and Megaera are the only two people in the world.

When he comes back to, Zagreus realizes that Megaera’s hand is pressed over his mouth. Firmly, but not painfully.

“Meg,” Zagreus pants, once he’s recovered his breath enough to speak. Her calloused palms are rough against his lips. “Let go.”

It takes a moment for Megaera to comply. When she removes her hand, she lets it drop to Zagreus’ waist.

“You were nearly shouting,” Megaera says softly, by way of explanation.

“Can’t help it.” Zagreus lets himself sink back into his mattress, feeling pleasantly loose-limbed and aching. “Not with you.”

“Tsch. I don’t want your flattery.” Regardless, Megaera starts moving against him, and the too-soon stimulation makes Zagreus hiss a breath through his teeth. “How about something more pleasurable for the both of us instead.”

She leans down closer to him, until their lips are brushing. Her periwinkle hair falls like a curtain around Zagreus’ face; he can hardly breathe.

“Stay like this,” she orders, the words pressing straight into his throat. He can almost taste her hot pink lipstick. “This way I’ll just swallow all the sounds you make, door or no door.”

Zagreus shivers. How can he refuse?

#june speaks #my writing #hades #ANYWAYS.. can you imagine when i first played through hades i originally was gonna turn meg down and just romance than?? #but then we got closer and meg was propositioning me and despite my reservations abt their breakup the lesbian in me couldnt resist her LMAO #im not even into whipping and all that shit shes just. her voice makes me weak tho i watched that ‘‘megs sexy voice for 3 mins’’ video like #so many times. so many times. what is it abt hades thats finally gotten me to break free from embarrassment and write rated m. (i know what)

[goddessofeternity]

Love Amidst the Darkness

Chapter 18: Final Hours

Althea could not bring herself to eat or sleep for the last few days. Her mind was clouded with thoughts of how unlucky she was. Her parents could not console her, the kingdom was bursting at the seams and they just didn’t have time for their only daughter. Her friends were busy and Duran was…she hadn't seen him since the war announcement happened. Her days were filled with her teachers telling her about escape routes and making sure her self defense was up to par. Her nights were filled with walks through the tunnels underneath the castle to safe areas. She didn’t even have the heart to wonder how long such tunnels were under them. Marina was the only constant that was around her, and despite trying to put on a brave face for the princess, it was obvious that she was nervous and fearful too. The other royal families were getting ready for war and Althea could not help but wish that this was all a dream. She could not remember the last time she had seen her friends and she missed them terribly. She was told to keep up a brave face to boost up morale whenever she walked the palace halls. It was easier said than done, and when she was alone she would cry her heart out. No one could console her and Marina was often at a loss on how to comfort her. The royal couple finally had a chance to speak to their daughter, but it proved difficult to hold her attention.

“So, if the creatures make their way past the city limits…we will have guards ready in the palace to escort you into the tunnels. There will be a wyvern and rider waiting for you to take you to Dragleic. It should be a short and easy transition, but as long as you stay focused…Althea?”

“Yes of course, mother…” Althea had not really heard her mother, but she wouldn’t tell her that. Her dress was far more interesting than what was being said. Her father was silent as he watched his wife repeat her instructions all over again. He narrowed his eyes as he looked upon his family, desperate to make sure that everything went well. As much as he wanted to shield them from the coming threat, it would be impossible to do such a thing. More and more knights were being called upon, but it just never felt like it was enough. He wanted to protect them all from this threat, but this enemy was like nothing he had ever dealt with. He sighed with a frustrated breath before leaving the room. It was time for the knight commander to rally more troops. 

“Kyros.” The tired king halted as his queen appeared by his side. He closed his eyes as her hands slipped into his and he appreciated her strength at the moment. She leaned against him and he turned her in his arms and kissed his dear wife deeply. Pulling back, he gazed at her long and hard before he finally spoke up. 

“I promise that I will protect you both with my very soul. I honestly never thought that another war would happen again. Althea deserves to know peace and after this is over I will make sure that it stays that way.”

“You never know what could happen, my love. There is no telling when another war could happen, you don’t need to shoulder everything alone. I am your queen, your wife, your lover, and most importantly, I am the other half of your fire. We will end this together and we will give our daughter and kingdom the happiness that they deserve. You aren’t alone, my king.” 

“I can be quite stubborn about your protection huh?” His queen giggled as she took his arm and they continued walking. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing…it is nice to see that things just don’t change…even with the long passage of time. You always need to be the protector.”

“I think I am quite good at it after all this time.”

“Yes, except for when you come across a mouse and I have to be the one to save you…again.” Kyros blushed at the teasing of his wife as she smirked at him. It was only once…or twice…maybe a few times that such a thing happened. “Don’t worry…I’ll protect you from the scary mice.”

“A-Anyway! How is Althea? I noticed that she seemed to be especially quiet…although this has been a recurring thing over the last few days.”

The amused smile diminished off the face of his wife and an even more saddened one replaced it. “I am at a loss on what to do,” she sighed defeated. “It is like all of her energy has been taken from her. I know asking for at least a smile is a lot, but I would love to see it. She has been following all of the practice drills and training courses like she should, but she has been relatively silent. I know that she misses her friends, but they still have more duties to fulfill.”

“....” He had noticed that his rosebud had been even more quiet after the war announcement, and more so after her knights were taken from her side. In truth, he wanted to keep them close to her, but he wanted them to get even more training to better protect her. He did not tell his wife or daughter that all three of them had volunteered for the war campaign. He was going to deny their request, but the determination on their faces silenced him. It would not sit well with him refusing to add such promising knights to the war efforts.

 He could only pray that they all make it back when it was all over. 

♛

Althea quietly sat in the gardens and penned a new note in her journal. It was the only way that she could dispel her feelings. Marina had left her side after her parents had summoned her. It was probably to speak more about her protection and what must be done. Althea sighed as she looked up at the sun and the birds chirping and the gentle sounds of nature. Why could the world not be free of such awful conflict all of the time? What was wrong with peace? Was it such a bad thing to want to live a happy life with your loved ones? Is life only about having hard times and never really being able to enjoy the peace? With a heavy groan, she looked back down at her journal and tried not to let her tears hit the pages. 

She tried her best to hold them back and keep her sadness to herself. It would do no one any good to see her cry. In fact, it would be the worst thing ever for the morale of the knights to see her in such a state. She so desperately wanted to see Duran and her friends again. They had become so busy that Duran hadn’t even snuck up to her window anymore. She wanted to continue their discussion they had during her birthday ball, but she wondered if the time for that would ever come again. She hated going to her self defense classes and rushing through the tunnels under the kingdom. She hated so many things lately and feeling like this made her sick. Her parents wanted her safe and she understood that, but it didn’t mean she couldn’t like all of this either. 

“Althea…”

The young princess looked up in surprise as her parents stood before her with smiles on their faces. It was odd to see them with such looks, considering the fact of everything going on. Althea held back her depressed sigh as she stood to her feet and wiped the grass from her skirts. 

“Mother…father…what’s going on?”

“Well…we have a free day today, so we thought that we would spend some time with you, my rosebud…” Her father rested his hand on his wife’s shoulder who nodded happily at their daughter. “We thought that you seemed down and it has been some time since we could all have a relaxing time together.”

“Oh…well…I thought that I had lessons to get to later.” The couple noticed her reluctance to spend time with them, but they wouldn’t take no for an answer. 

“Now now Althea…we have already canceled any such plans,” her mother took her hand and pulled her between them. “Are you getting too old now to spend time with your parents?”

“N-No! Of course not…I just thought that…war preparations were more important right now.” Althea looked down at her notebook sadly. “Nothing is more important than that right now.”

The queen shared a look with her husband who wore an equally worried look. “Althea…nothing is more important than you and your happiness. Your mother and I have been extremely busy, but you are always our first priority. Now, let’s get a big smile on that face and we can take a ride around the kingdom.”

“Really?!” The first excited exclaim from their daughter in weeks made the couple smile broadly, but the queen looked at her husband in concern at his suggestion. “We can really go out for a ride?!”

“Of course, now you run along and get ready. Your mother and I will meet you at the stables.”

“Ok!” They watched her hurry off and once she was out of sight, Hestia looked at her husband with a concerned face.

“Kyros…are you sure that we should be outside of the kingdom? I thought that we agreed on that…”

“I know…but we will have the protection of many of our guards to keep all three of us safe. I’m far from rusty, my queen. You are quite the combatant too. We won’t go out too far either, just to the lake and then we can even sit and chat. I already have the staff fixing something up so we can eat.”

“I don’t know…”

Taking her hands into his, he kissed them gently and she looked at their joined hands with a frown. He pulled her into his embrace and she hugged him tight. “We all need to take a break and enjoy these moments that we still have together. This war could happen any day now…we need these moments Hestia…”

“I…you’re right…I wish this wasn’t happening right now…”

“This fight will not last forever…we will have our peace and Althea will be happy once more.”

The pair shared a small kiss before heading to the stable and chuckled at the sight of Althea hopping with one foot as she tried to put her other boot on. Her stallion was nudging her, making it much harder to keep her balance. She managed to get her foot into her boot successfully before she gently kissed his muzzle. Her bright smile lit the hearts of her parents as they moved towards her, their own horses being brought over to them. 

“There is that smile that I love so much!” Althea giggled as her father enveloped her in a tight hug and lifted her off her feet. Hestia watched the pair with a loving smile before placing her hands on her hips.

“”Now come along you two…we have to head out before the sun starts to go down.” Althea and her father complied quickly with her as they mounted their respective horse. Hoisting herself up, the queen kicked her mare into a quick canter and shot her husband and daughter a challenging smile. “I wonder if the two of you can catch me!”

“Ah! Mother!” Althea quickly followed after her mother as did their knights, but the king frowned as he was being held back.

“Hestia! This is hardly fair! I had to get our food!” He quickly thanked the maids who handed over their basket of food, before he kicked off on his horse. Hestia laughed as they chased her, but she had a considerable lead on the both of them. The knights were even having trouble catching up to her swift steed. It did not take much longer for the family to reach their destination. The queen slipped down from her horse just as everyone else caught up to her. 

“It seems that I have won our race…”

“Mother! You never mentioned a race! I…Stardust and I would have surely won if we had known…” The young princess huffed and crossed her arms at her mother. Hestia giggled at the pout on her daughter's face, she was so much like her in her youth. She battered her lashes at her husband as he stormed over and pulled her close by the waist.

“Your mother is a cheat that’s all…but I will admit that she would have still probably beat us any day.”

“Really?”

“Oh yes…your mother is quite the accomplished woman on a horse. She would race across the fields on horseback quite often. A beautiful sight to behold in the early hours of a clear day.”

“Oh Kyros…I’m actually quite surprised that I beat the both of you. I haven’t ridden like that since before Althea was born. Perhaps I could get back into the saddle once more when things are quiet again.”

“Will it?” The pair looked at Althea as she ran her fingers through her hair. The knights were busy setting up their picnic, so the royal pair pulled her close. Hestia brushed her bangs back and kissed her forehead as she held her face. Kyros placed a firm but comforting hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him with worried eyes. ”How are you both confident that we will win?”

“We have carefully gone over everything with the knight commander as well as our allies and friends. We have never backed down or lost any fight that has threatened our beloved kingdom. We have a strong system in place for threats like this. Our army is powerful and just…these creatures will be nothing to our might. I am confident because I have faith in what your mother and I have built.”

“We will have our peace Althea…we will go back to the way things once were again. We will have our balls, our family outings, and our rides across the countryside. You and your friends can live out the rest of your years without this threat looming once again.”

Althea smiled as she hugged both of her parents and they settled to eat their meal. It was the first time in days that she felt happy. Her parents had always been right about such things…so why should now be any different? It was a scary thing that was happening, but their confidence and strength made her feel much better about their chances. Perhaps it was time for her to show the same strength and bravery that those around her were. 

“Ok…I have faith in everyone. Now…let’s continue our lunch!”

♛

Hestia groaned to herself as she looked over the perimeter of the kingdom's territory. The war preparations had been going smoothly and now it had just become a waiting game. Everyone was waiting with bated breath at this point. There had been no movement, no fighting, no nothing. She kept the bravest face for her daughter, but it was getting hard. The vision she had was bothering her more and more as time passed. Kyros had been overseeing relations with the other kingdoms at the moment, while she was keeping the knights on their toes in the training yard. It had been some time since she had last been on a field of battle, but it seemed that she was not as rusty as she thought. The knight commander had given her quite the fight earlier, and it put her heart at ease massively. Knowing that such a worthy person was going to be leading the charge was a weight off her shoulders.

Now, she stood over the war table and once again traced a finger across the perimeter of the kingdom. She wanted to send more guards, but it would be foolish to send anymore people. Anything could happen at times like these and she had to be smart about all of her actions. Yvette and Klein had sent more supplies over the last few days, and so did Xiaoli, but Hestia still felt like none of it was enough. 

Althea had finally begun to smile and she was happy for that. Her knights had returned to her side after all of their training. She slumped in her chair and watched as the clock slowly ticked in the corner of the room. She straightened up as the door suddenly opened, but she relaxed when she was met with only her husband.

“There you are..”

“Mmm…done with talking with representatives?” He groaned in irritation as he lifted her from the seat and sat down. She curled up against him as he ran his hands up her back. “I guess that means that it did not go well?”

“The foolish so-called “kings'' are the most cowardly group of men I have ever known…” She smiled as he rolled his eyes. “They really believe since we are mythical beings that we have to do everything. Everyone on this side of Edrion is not invulnerable…”

“They are only afraid of what they can’t understand. They fear the unknown just like the rest of us…although I think there is some jealousy mixed in with that.” 

“Idiots…” Hestia smiled as she leaned into the crook of his neck and he kissed her head. “All of this waiting around is concerning Hestia…”

“What can we do? I know how you feel and I feel the weight of it all on me too. I fear for our kingdom, but for our beloved Althea most of all.”

“I wish I had more to go off of in regards to Althea. We only know that something happens in the winter…which is still some time off. There is also the matter of the dragon that seemed to be in that winter setting as well.”

“I hate that my paintings are so vague. That could very well be this winter or several years down the line. We can never really know for sure.”

“....” At his silence, Hestia leaned back to look upon his face. Her heart sank as she looked into his tired and saddened eyes. It was not often that he let his brave mask down, but this was different than other times that they had in the past. Having a child made everything more frightening for the royal pair. Her safety mattered to them above all else and having an unknown circling over their heads did not help either.

“Kyros…” He looked up at her as she laid a gentle kiss on his temple. “I…I’m sorry that my paintings have failed us…”

“Never blame yourself for that, Hestia. You have no control over what you draw on the canvas. I just…I have been thinking about what will happen after this.”

“Alright…what have you been thinking about?” He sighed deeply before he pulled her closer until she was straddling him. She rubbed his shoulders as he massaged her hips with a firm grip. 

“After this war…I…I know it will be some time before Althea is married and she ascends the throne. We will of course still be around to help her…but I was thinking about leaving the palace. I thought that you and I could have a smaller home for ourselves.”

“Really? Oh…I never thought of doing something like that…then again my mind has been so wrapped up with everything these last few months…”

“Our princess will be queen one day, Hestia. It will eventually just be the two of us…unless….”

“Unless?”

His gaze softened as he kissed her hand and it made her blush as she could now feel the heat radiating off his body. She could feel him growing under her and now her own body was burning hot against him. They were alone and the chances of someone walking in was slim, so she didn’t hesitate to melt against him as his lips found her neck, and his tongue worked its way across her skin. Her moans enticed him more as his fingers found their way under her skirts. He grew harder against her as she moved against his crotch. 

Their lips met at the same time as he lifted her and laid her across the table. He left soft kisses against her throat and she moaned in appreciation. Hestia didn’t realize how much she needed his touch, but it was so good to feel him again, to brush away their worries for this one moment in time for only them. They could worry later…for now they both needed this release.

“Let’s have another baby.”

Hestia blinked in surprise as he pulled away and looked into her eyes, a fierce and serious gaze met her surprised one. It was odd that he would suggest such a thing. She remembered how much she had wanted a child once upon a time, and he was adamantly against it. It took a lot of convincing to even have Althea, but now it seemed the tables had turned.

“You…you want to have another child?”

“I…I know that I was against even having Althea…but she has been such a joy to our lives and to our people. Having another prince or princess with you would fill me with so much joy. I loved raising Althea with you and I would love to experience that again. Once this is all over…I would like to try…I wish that we would have given our rose a sibling years ago…but maybe we can now.”

“Oh Kyros…I would love to make another baby with you.” Happy tears sprung to her eyes as she pulled him into a deep kiss. The kiss grew more fiery and passionate, but a groan from Kyros stopped it as he pulled away. Sitting up, Hestia watched as he paced with a hand on his hip and deep frown etched onto his handsome face. “Kyros?”

“I’m going to be on the front lines Hestia…”

Kyros winced as he took in the increasingly angry look on his wife’s face. She stood from the table and stormed towards the door. Kyros reached out quickly to grasp her arm, but she snatched her arm from his grasp and looked at him with fire in her eyes.

“Hestia-”

“NO!” The candles in the room burst to life at her outburst and Kyros immediately shut down seeing her fury. “Absolutely not! You are not going to the front lines! I refuse to let you do something so foolish! We just said that we’re going to have another child! I don’t want to even have to entertain the thought of something happening to you! I already worry about Althea enough! I-”

Her eyes narrowed as she looked him up and down before her fist tightened. “Is that the reason you tried to have sex with me right now?! To…to try and put me in a better mood so you could tell me that?!”

“No! Hestia I would never do something like that to you! It is why I stopped myself from continuing! I do want to have another child with you, my love. This is something I have been thinking about for a long time. I just could never figure out when to speak to you about this. I have to do this Hestia, you have to understand that.”

“No, I don't have to understand it Kyros! This is not some human that you can easily take on. This is a monster! Some demonic creature from the bowels of hell itself. You have seen what these things are capable of. I have seen what they can do! That knight lost his life in the blink of an eye just feet from our daughter! I was lucky to be there to send it back to hell! That’s all that was Kyros…luck! I was seconds from losing our daughter and I was standing right there!”

“Do you have so little faith in me Hestia!? Do you think that I’m not capable of handling these things?! I understand the risks and I know that we almost lost our daughter! That is even more reason for me to go out there and finish these creatures! I would hope to have the support of my wife in this endeavor! So I ask you again Hestia, do you have so little faith in me!?”

“It is not about my faith in you! It’s the fact that I don’t want you to do it!” Kyros faltered as tears streamed down her face and her shoulders shook. His wife was strong and it was not often that she broke down like this and when she did it always broke him. He reached out to hold her, but she moved out of his reach and left the room. He sighed as he collapsed in the chair and stared at the map. Arguing with Hestia was the last thing that he wanted during a time like this, but he could understand her fear, but now was not the time for fear, it was a time for action. He’d make it up to her before the campaign begins, but he would also have to inform Althea about her knights as well. Now that…was a conversation that he was not ready to have. Disappointing and upsetting Althea always hurt him more than anything. It was like daggers to his heart when he saw her saddened face fall. It was probably better to have this conversation now then later. Having both his girls upset with him at the same time was not ideal, but he had to do it.

It was never hard to find his daughter despite these scary times, she had taken to cooking more and more in the kitchens with the staff. So, he stood in the door as she shuffled around the kitchen and went about decorating small cakes. It would have been a simple task, if it weren’t for Hestia sitting on a stool sipping wine. Now Kyros was worried, because his wife never drank wine. On very rare occasions did she indulge, but mostly when she was very stressed and upset or angry with him. If he was scared before, he was now terrified.

“Althea…” His sweet rose perked up to smile at him, but it was the hard gaze of his wife that made his spine go rigid. He didn’t even have to glance her way to know that she wanted to yell at him. Thankfully, with their daughter and staff in the room she held her tongue, but once they were alone again he would have it. Even more so with what he was about to reveal to his daughter. “Ahem…could you all leave us for a second? I would like to speak to the princess.”

With quick bows, the kitchen staff left the room quickly. Althea bounced over to her father with a grin and produced a cupcake for him.

“Father…try this cupcake that I made! I thought you would like something sweet to eat! I know how much you like things with lemon in it!” He smiled as she held it to his lips and he took a bite. He blinked at the soft texture and had to applaud his daughter’s baking skills. She was becoming quite the accomplished chef. As the pair sat down, Kyros tried his best not to look his wife in the eyes. Her finger was trailing the rim of her glass as she sat cross legged not too far from them. She was going to kill him before the day was over. 

“I love it rosebud. I look forward to having some more…” Althea beamed at his praise and he cleared his throat as he prepared himself to tear her smile away. “Althea I…I have some news that will be hard for you to hear…I just want you to remember that I love you…and everything that I-”

A small cracking of glass made him quickly rethink his words.

“Everything that your mother and I do is to keep you safe and protect your happiness.” He held her hands in his and he already hated to see her smile fall and the worry wash over her face. “The war…Althea with stakes so high…I have decided to join the war campaign and I will be on the front lines leading the charge.”

Just as he suspected, she ripped her arms away and burst into tears. The temperature of the room rose as Hestia’s anger became palpable. He took his daughter into his arms as she sobbed against his shirt. “Father please! You mustn't go on the front lines! Mother and I need you here with us! Please tell me you won’t go!” She pulled back to look into his eyes, but his mind was already made up. Seeing the resolve in her father’s eyes only made the young princess cry harder. Kyros knew that words would not be able to soothe her so he instead held her close and kissed her head. He hated that he only had more terrible things to tell her, but it was what must be done.

“My rosebud…I have more to tell you.” He held her shoulders as she continued to cry and wipe at her tears. “Your…your chosen knights have volunteered to join the campaign…and I accepted their help in this fight.”

“W-What?” It was at this moment that he dared to look at his wife. Her wine was now boiling in its glass, until the glass finally shattered. Steam was rising from her head and she looked ready to throttle him if he wasn’t holding onto their daughter. He could not remember a time since he saw her this angry with him. “Father…no please! Reconsider it! They are my dearest friends and I can’t bear to lose hi-them! You must take it back!”

“It would dishonor their bravery to overturn my decision. They wanted to do this for their kingdom Althea…for you.” Althea shook her head rapidly, as if she was trying to brush his very words from her ears.

“I do not care! Their lives are more important than bravery or honor!” Kyros frowned now at his daughter as she cried out. He knew that she would have her reservations about this, but he had already made his choice. He would not take it back even for her, they would stay and that was final.

“Princess…there will come a time when you have to make tough decisions for the safety and betterment of your kingdom. This is one of those times. Will you continue to let your personal feelings cloud your judgment? Or will you stand up and do what is right?”

“I…”

“Enough.” Kyros let go of Althea as Hestia gently led her away by her shoulders. “We will speak no more of this topic today. This is a lot of information for her to process and she needs the time to gather herself. Come along Althea…why don’t we get some fresh air?”

“O-Ok…” With a glare towards his very soul, Kyros watched his wife lead their daughter away and he grabbed an empty glass and poured himself some wine. This was going to be a hard thing to combat and he wasn’t sure if they would ever forgive him for this. Taking a deep swig, the king could only hope that everything would work itself out in time.

♛

The days had begun to blend together more and more until the dreaded day had finally come. The time for war had finally come. Althea was beside herself with fear and worry and she had not spoken to her friends or Duran since her father dropped his news on her lap over two weeks ago. She had been trying to speak with them for the longest time, but her father told her they were training outside the kingdom with the armies of the other royals. Her parents weren’t talking to each other which also did nothing to make her feel much better. Marina had not returned to her side, but she sent her many letters about what she was doing. She had been stuck with the triplets for far too long for her liking and she begged Marina to come back to her side. Now, she looked over the balcony overlooking the gardens of the palace. The knights were lined up as her father and the knight commander spoke with them, but she could not see her beloved knights. She was surprised to see her mother off to the side watching them intently. Perhaps her parents had reconciled? It would be wonderful if they did since things seemed to be progressing rapidly. 

It was at that moment that her mother looked up and made eye contact with her. She inclined her head slightly and Althea made her way down the halls to her mother. With a deep sigh, she rolled her shoulders back so she’d be more presentable. 

“I should ask if everything is alright with her and father…now is not the time to be fighting with each other. Who knows how long this war will last…”

Althea stopped as the doors of the palace opened and her mother walked through with a smile on her face. Althea raised a brow, but her hands flew to her mouth as her mother stepped aside. Although, looking a bit bruised and slightly dirty, Althea sprinted to her knights and threw herself into their arms. She held Duran even tighter as the four of them held onto each other 

“Wow…if I’m gonna be showered in this much affection I would leave more!” Althea chuckled as she squeezed them one more time, before she let them go. It was good to hear Liam and his jokes, she had not seen him since he joined the advanced guard some months back. Honora didn’t even chide him and Althea could only imagine it was because she was glad to see him. 

“I would give you many more hugs if I saw you more often Liam.” Althea glanced at her mother who blew her a kiss before she walked away. Althea wanted to talk about so many things, but there was only one pressing issue on her mind. “Why…why did none of you tell me about your decisions to join the war?”

“....”

From their expressions, she could see that they didn’t expect her to know about it. That only made her more upset with them. It had been bothering her for weeks if she was more mad at them or her father. Now was not the time or place for anger anymore, she just wanted answers and more than anything…she had to speak to Duran. She led her knights to her mother’s drawing room and as soon as the door shut, tears sprang to her eyes. 

They jumped up immediately to calm her down, but she would not have it. “Why would none of you tell me about this? Don’t I have a right to know if my own knights are running into danger? Did any of you think about how I would feel?”

“Althea…we…I have a duty not just to keep you safe. I also have a duty to all the people who live here. I might be a noble now…but I will always be a knight over everything else.” Honora knelt in front of her and took her hands in her own. “I wanted to tell you about this sooner, but everything got so busy and I haven’t had time to even see my parents. Training with the royal army of Dragleic has been tough, but I needed to do this. I promise I will never keep something like this from you again.”

Althea took the handkerchief she handed her and wiped at her eyes. She understood what Honora was telling her and she knew Honora was a proud knight to her core. She wouldn’t have been able to stop her even if she tried. She had no words as she just nodded her head slowly and Liam sighed as he flopped beside her on the chair. 

“I have to keep such a pretty face safe.” Althea pouted at Liam as he gave her a simple answer. Seeing that she wasn’t pleased with the answer, Liam sighed and rubbed his head. “I…I genuinely want to keep you and this kingdom safe. This kingdom and all of you are the closest things I have had to family…there I said it! I won’t let some hell beasts take any of you away from me…”

Althea blinked in surprise at his confession. She had no idea that he felt that way about them. It was true that you could never judge a book by its cover. She grasped his hand and although she was upset…she understood him more now. He smiled at her and she leaned in to hug him, but her eyes soon found the ones of her love and she found her mouth quite dry. His smile didn’t hold much weight and she wondered if he was as sad as she was. 

Honora glanced between the two and gave Liam a look that he quickly understood and soon enough, it was just Althea and Duran in the small room. Althea clenched her fists and Duran shuffled awkwardly before he stepped forward and she leaped from the couch into his arms. He buried his face in her hair as she silently cried into his shoulder. 

“I’m so sorry my love…I’m so sorry that I didn’t tell you about this. I’ll understand if you can’t forgive me for this.”

“You’re right…I won’t forgive you.” She leaned away from him and he was surprised by the uncharacteristic fire in her eyes. “I will not forgive you if you don’t come back to me in one piece. You and the others have to come back to me and I will never let you go either. I know that your duty and honor runs deep…I just…I just wish we could have talked about it.”

“I promise to never keep something like this from you again, Thea.” She blushed at his nickname, but her face turned more scarlet as he brushed his lips against her knuckles. She loved it when he kept eye contact with her when he kissed her hand. It always made her body warm up in the best way. It felt so intimate and she wanted to always have these feelings when around him. He laced their fingers together as he closed the distance between them. His other hand traveled to her waist just shy of touching it, before he gently pulled her against his chest. “Sorry if I smell of sweat and blood…I…I just wanted to hold you again.”

“You still smell like you…it doesn’t bother me…I love your scent…” He chuckled low and deep and Althea felt a fire form in the pit of her stomach. She reached out and brushed a hair from his face as his fingers traveled through her hair before lifting the strands to his lips. Looking deep in his eyes, she decided to take a play from him. With only his finger baring their lips from meeting…she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his finger that was toying with her hair. She kept steady eye contact with him and watched with delight as his face was now the one inflamed. His grip slightly tightened on her waist at her boldness, and even more when she fluttered her lashes at him and traced lazy circles on his chest. “I love you, Duran…”

“I…I love you too, Althea…” His breath had caught in his throat, but he managed to push it out and she giggled at him in his sudden stupor. “By the gods…do I love you so much…”

“I’m still upset with you though.” With a giggle she left her knight alone to gather himself again as he watched her walk down the halls. She winked over her shoulder at him and his heart was ready to leap from his chest. He wanted to rush down the halls and just claim her lips as his finally, but he wanted to keep their relationship as innocent as possible, but he wasn’t sure if he could if she would keep doing things like that. 

“I’ll make it up to you…” With a final deep breath, he readied himself to tackle the coming challenges that would soon come into his life. The love of his princess would always be enough to weather him through whatever was coming for them next. He would be sure to come back to her and fill her life with nothing but endless happiness. She would never shed tears of sadness again as long as he was around. 

It was also around this time that the king had enough of the silence he was receiving from his wife. Once she had brought the young knights into the palace, he left the knights to follow after her. She had been upset with him too long and frankly the silence was beginning to piss him off. He would give her a piece of his mind once he saw her. The knights quickly told their annoyed king that she had retreated to their bedroom. With a steady breath, he flung open the doors of their room and stormed in.

“Hestia! You and I both know how ridiculous this is-”

He stopped at once as he saw Hestia sitting on the floor and crying against the canvas she had painted of Althea. It was more detailed than the one she had made of food on the table months prior, and Kyros often told her to burn the damn thing. It brought her nothing but grief and he couldn’t bear to look at  the damned thing either. He went to her side without hesitation and she cried into his chest for almost twenty minutes before her sobs became nothing but little hiccups. 

“Please…please don’t leave us Kyros…” The king shut his eyes tightly as he held his trembling wife. This was the hardest thing he had ever done and leaving his girls alone was not something he wanted either, but he needed to lead the army. “We need you…”

“Hestia…” He held her face in his hands and her tears spilled down his hands as he kissed her gently. “I have made up my mind about this. I know that you are upset with me, but I will not change my mind…not even for you.”

“I…I know you won’t…” She pounded her fist against his chest weakly and wiped at her eyes. “You are a stubborn and terrible man. I’m so scared…”

“It is alright to be scared. I’m afraid to face this enemy, but more than anything I’m afraid to leave you and Althea alone in this world. I’m more afraid of what these things can do if they make it here…what they could do to my girls…I will never allow something to happen to you two. That is why I need to rely on your strength. It is why I need your support so I can come back safe and sound.”

Hestia knew that her king was right and she was the queen and she had to be better than this. She had to be strong for him and for Althea. If…if something did happen to Kyros she would need to be there for their daughter. She would need her mother if such a time came upon them. “A-Alright…I know you have to do this, but…next time talk to me about it before you make such decisions.”

“I promise.” He lifted her to her feet and laid a kiss on her temple. He was about to lead her out the room, but she kept a firm grip on his shirt. “Hmm? What’s wrong?”

“Can we just stay in bed for a while? I just want to hold onto you.”

“Of course.” Sweeping her off her feet, the king and queen laid in each other's arms for the remainder of that day, whispers of love falling from their lips and the strongest words of strength. Hestia and Kyros drank from each other's presence both silently wishing for the best outcome from all of this. It was the only way to keep each other sane and the only way they could get through this coming horror on their kingdom. 

♛         

It was time.            

The call to war had been sounded across the kingdom. The trumpets of war had been sounding all day and it was maddening. They were resounding and triumphant sounds, but Althea felt like there was an undertone of dread too. 

Of course it could just be her overthinking it. It seemed as though the enemy had been spotted by Dragleic’s aerial scouts. They were very far off from the kingdom, but it seemed they had a set path they were on. If the armies left soon, they could face the enemy in five days time from this location. Their foes moved at a brisk pace, so it could change at any time. Her father was busy making final preparations and her mother was organizing a mass prayer at the front gates of the palace. Her mother had been doing anything to keep herself busy. Althea was actually surprised by how calm she had been on the days leading up to the announcement. She had faith in her father and her knights and that was enough to keep her going. 

It didn’t mean a twinge of fear wasn’t present though. 

“Hey…Althea it’s about to start.” Althea quickly joined Honora as they made their way to the steps of the palace. The sun was setting and she watched as her people slowly filed into the palace grounds, most of them holding candles in their hands. The stairs of the palace were also lined in candles giving the whole area a gentle and warm glow. She spotted Duran with his family and smiled sadly as he held his sister against his chest. Althea could tell that she had been crying, so she decided to make her way to them.

“Oh! Good evening princess!” Althea smiled as Duran’s family quickly greeted her. Duran had his mother’s eyes, but he mostly looked like his father. “How may we help you?”

“Oh I happened to notice that your own little princess seemed to be upset.”

“Oh…yes. Having both her brother and father leaving isn’t sitting right with her.” Duran shot her a sad smile as he rubbed his sister’s back. “Sweetheart…why don’t you say hello to the princess?”

Althea smiled as Duran’s sister perked up and tried to wipe away her tears quickly. Duran put her down as she curtsied with a bright red face. “G-Good evening princess…”

“Good evening sweetheart. I saw that you were upset and I thought I would come over to see if I could help. I know how scary it is that your father and brother are going to do something so scary.”

“You do?”

“Of course…my father is leaving too…and Duran is also a dear friend of mine, but I always remember that they are doing this for us. They are strong and nothing is going to stop them. You believe they can do it right?”

“Y-Yes!”

“Good good! How about you join me and my mother when the prayer happens. Your mother and brothers can join too of course.” Althea smiled as she took her hand and the family followed her back up the stairs. The sun was fully set now and the candles burned brighter as her parents descended the stairs hand in hand. It was good that they had made up, it was just a shame this would be their last time together for awhile. Althea stood to their left with Duran and his family as her mother began to talk.

“Thank you all for joining us on this important night. I know that the thought of war is scary and an unknown evil is threatening our kingdom, but we have nothing to fear as long as we have faith in the strength of our king and army!” The people cheered and hollered before her mother calmed them back down. “I ask that you hold your loved ones tight tonight and pray with me and my family. Pray to the Gods to watch over our brave men and women. Shield them as they fight back evil and restore peace to our lands once again. Bow your heads with me and pour you very spirit into wishing for their victory, safety and speedy return.”

Althea bowed her head as she prayed with all of her heart that everyone would be ok and they could put this behind them. Her parents soon called the service to a close and Althea imagined they wanted to spend as much time together as they could. Duran said his goodbyes to his family before he was back at her side. She could feel the need to just be with him and just hold, much like her parents probably were doing, but she wanted to be with her friends too.

“Nervous?”

“Hmm? Oh no…just thinking about…things…mostly about you.” He looked away bashfully and Althea found it adorable. “Honora and Liam should be in the gardens by now. I thought about having a small campfire gathering and we could all talk.”

“That sounds like a wonderful idea…lead the way.” Althea was glad that Marina was coming back to the palace in the morning, she would need a distraction during all of this. There was no telling how long all of this would be. She had been told that wars could last years and she really hoped that would not be the case. She prayed that it would not last long, because that would mean she would have to marry her fiancé. She hadn’t really spoken about her relationship with Duran to her mother, but she would have to when the wait begins.

“Well I was wondering when you would make your way here…Honora has been boring me to death…” Honora rolled her eyes as Liam groaned and collapsed on the ground. “She keeps asking me about dreams and other bullshit…”

“What is so boring about that?” Tucking her skirt under her legs, Althea sat beside Honora as Duran fed more wood into their small fire. Liam rolled onto his side and scoffed. “I think having dreams for the future is a good thing. It’s something to look forward to.”

“Yeah well…I suppose it might be. I guess I get more and more surprised by how much Honora has changed in the last few months.”

“I have not changed at all. The only thing that has changed is my status. I still have things that I want to accomplish…so what if I wear dresses occasionally? I’ll still kick ass while also looking like a delicate flower.” She puffed out her chest saying it and Althea applauded her dear friend while Liam just booed her. 

“Well Honora…tell us about your dream.” Althea was excited to talk about such things with them since they didn’t often talk about their futures.

“I well…I’ve always wanted to give my parents a better life, but it seems that came sooner than I thought…” Looking up at the sky, she smiled to herself and Althea was eager to know why. “I’ve always dreamed about maybe someday leading the royal army. To be in charge of everyone and maybe training an elite female guard!”

“Really? You want to be the next knight commander?” Duran blinked in surprise at his oldest friend's dream. “I’m sure my father will make you work hard for it.”

“Oh I hope that he does. It wouldn’t be much fun if it was easy!” Honora pumped her fist in the air and they chuckled at her enthusiasm. “I’ll be the greatest knight commander in the history of Melodia!”

Althea clapped and Duran whistled as Honora blushed and rubbed the back of her head. Liam even whistled too in encouragement of her. Althea wanted to think of the future, so she would only think of things for after the war. “How about things to do after the war? I mean…besides your dreams about being the knight commander.”

“Hmm…after the war. I wanted to just continue training at first but um…” A deep blush crossed her face before she looked Althea in the eyes. “I actually want to relax and spend more time with my family and help them settle more into their roles. I never realized how much there is to do as a noble. I thought it was just lounging around and having people wait on you. I was also hoping to um…have you show me how to be more of a…proper lady of the court. I figured it would be useful…you know?”

“Oh! I think that’s wonderful! I would love to help you do that…although we might have to get Marina to help out…I don’t think one of the skills you want to learn from me is tripping over carpets…” Her knights immediately began to laugh and she couldn’t help but join in. Her clumsiness used to embarrass her greatly, but she was glad to make her friends laugh. It was a somber thought, but she was unsure if she’d ever get to hear it again. 

“It’s your turn to share Liam…” Honora elbowed him and he sighed in a exasperated manner. “Don’t be like that you jerk.”

“Fine fine…I don’t really care for all that fame and glory stuff…I just want to mess around with the ladies and roll in some money. I might also…give back to the village I was raised in.”

“I think that’s sweet to do that Liam…well except the messing around with the ladies part. I thought you would have learned your lesson about that. You don’t want to settle down and have a family?”

“Yeah right…it would take a really good woman to chain me down. Besides…I want a woman with some attitude and a nice juicy as-”

“Alright you horny dog…I think we get the picture.” Duran shoved his shoulder and the boys shared a quick laugh. “Always so cagey my friend. You really need to ler do sometimes and just talk more about yourself.”

“Heh…maybe when we come back from the war I just might…besides I can tell the princess about our time in training. Let me tell you Althea…these two got into so much crap. You would expect that sort of thing from me.”

“Really?” She looked at the two in question and they were both sporting embarrassed looks. That was a story that she hoped to soon listen to. “Well…I think it would only be fair to share my own stories with you all.”

“Oh? You sure you want to share with this crazy crew? We might tell it to our grandchildren some day…” Liam teased as he waggled his eyebrows at her. “I know I would.”

“Don’t be a jerk Liam!” Honora smacked his shoulders and he winced and Althea couldn’t help but laugh at their banter. She wouldn’t say it out loud, but she wondered if there was more under the surface between them. They would make a cute couple in her eyes. She continued to giggle as they started to argue, but she soon felt that Duran was looking at her. She smiled at him and she so desperately wanted to hear about his dream.

While the other two were arguing, Duran subtly pointed his finger at her. Tilting her head, she wondered what he meant. He smiled and mouthed, “You are my dream”, and Althea didn’t think her heart could sound any louder in her ears. She held her hands to her cheeks and tried to calm herself down. Such a bold thing to declare! He really was the man of her dreams! How would she be able to function after this night thinking about such words. She glanced at her arguing friends before she glanced back at him and mouthed the same to him. He took it better than she did as he leaned on his hand to smile and gaze at her. 

“How about you Althea?” Blinking away from him, she looked over at Liam and Honora as they had finished their bickering. “It’s only fair that we hear from our lovely princess…you’re next Duran!”

“Oh I know I am.” Althea squirmed on the ground as her face lit up. She wondered if Duran would lie about his dream to them. Honora knew about their budding feelings, but she wasn’t sure if Liam knew about it. She wouldn’t say anything just yet to him, but she imagined that he would be happy for them.

“Well…I just…I just want to be happy. I want my family and all of my friends to be safe and happy too. I never really thought about anything more than ascending the throne when I’m of age. Although…I guess I just want to meet the love of my life and be married…” As Liam cooed and teased her, she saw Honora smirk at them and Duran beamed at her. 

It was all quite embarrassing.

“I suppose it’s my turn…well being a knight was never really my plan at first, but I love this kingdom and its people…so I finally let my father convince me. I never really thought much about what comes after…if I had to say though…I guess I would like the whole wife and kids thing. I love children so I would like quite a few. I have my eyes on someone and before you ask Liam…I’m not telling you a thing.”

Liam pouted and Honora rubbed his shoulders and Althea was trying to process her thoughts. A few children?! W-Wife?! The thought made butterflies go off in her stomach, but she wondered if it was too soon to think about such things. Her mother would have to convince not only her father and counsel, but another kingdom about why the princess would not marry their prince. She couldn’t well tell them that the prince was insufferable either. Who knows how they would take such an insult?

Shaking her head, Althea focused more on their talks as the evening went on. It was a night filled with laughter and love. She would not think about it being their last time, they all had so much time together and they would triumph in this war. She had to believe it no matter what.

For her own sake.

♛

It was decided that the armies would move early in the morning. The sun was not yet rising, but it would soon breach and dawn would come. The armies were saying their last goodbyes and getting the last of their supplies. The queen was trying her best to keep her composure throughout that morning, but the occasional glass was spotted near her person. She was not the only person beside themselves in worry, for the princess had spent most of her morning looking for anything to keep herself occupied. She had went to the kitchens several times to distract herself, but that didn’t work for very long. She was worried because she had not seen Duran at all that morning. Surely he wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye to her right? There was an earlier group that had left but he wasn’t supposed to leave with them. Honora and Liam had not seen him either and she was worried that she wouldn’t see him after all. 

“Where are you?”

“Althea…there you are…” Althea looked to her left as her mother joined her side and fixed her dress up. Her hands were trembling slightly and Althea held her hands, and her mother sighed deeply. “I’m sorry my rose…this is a lot to deal with. I just want your father and everyone to come home quickly and safely.”

“I’m sure they will be just fine!” Althea smiled and it warmed her mother’s heart, but the princess honestly didn’t really feel that deep in her heart. 

“We should go and listen to your father’s address. We must greet him and the knight with bright smiles and well wishes. This is important and you can’t let them know that you are afraid.”

Althea followed her mother and they went to the southern gates of the palace. It was there that Althea realized the full scope and size of their army. They almost didn’t fit entirely in the fields and she could see some on the far hills…there was no way that they could fail. She spotted Honora and Liam and they waved to her, but she still had not seen Duran at all. Her father was on a raised pedestal and he was magnificent in his gold and black armor. His cape was flowing in the breeze, the symbol of their kingdom shining a bright gold.

Althea and her mother joined his side and she went to his other side. A hushed silence went over the entire army as her father began his speech. She wanted to listen, but she started to drown it out as she wished that she saw Duran. There was no telling how long this war could last…she wanted to see him so bad. She glanced at her mother who was wearing a face of stone, and Althea hated how much she was hurting. Her father was brilliant in his speech as the army grew more and more excited and motivated. The men and woman roared to life and Althea found herself more and more sad as the armies began to move into formation.

“Althea…”

The young princess turned and was engulfed in the strong arms of her father. She tried to follow the advice of her mother, but as she held her father the tears quickly fell. She held him tighter than she had ever before and he kissed her head gently before he pulled back to wipe her tears. “My rosebud…I swear to you that I will return to you. Nothing will be able to keep me away from you and your mother, nothing. I will win this for you and your future. Do not worry for me princess, thinking about you and your mother will get me through this. I love you so much.”

“I-I love you too!” They shared one final and tight hug before they separated and he looked at his stone faced wife. She was so clearly holding back all of her emotions. He could read her like the back of his hand. Her hands were shaking as she released a shaky breath.

“Hestia…I-”

“No words you horrid man!” Kyros let out a surprised noise as she pulled him forward and crashed her lips against his. Usually her parents tried to be private with such intense displays of affection, but the situation definitely called for it. Her father had lifted her from her feet before he gently set her back down again. “You come back to us no matter what…do you understand me?”

“Yes, my queen.”

He pulled both of his girls into his arms once more, Althea prayed harder and harder for his safety. Her mother was trembling and Althea couldn’t help her own tremors going through her body. Giving them both a final kiss, the king let his girls go and climbed atop his horse. With a mighty cry, the Phoenix King disappeared into his advancing army. 

Althea grasped her mothers hand tightly as they watched him until he left their sight. Glancing at her mother, she was met with only a hard and stony face. 

“Mother…”

“Althea why don’t you head back inside? I’m going to stay out for just a bit longer…”

“O-Ok…” Althea glanced over her shoulder several times as she was escorted back to the palace. Now that she was alone with her thoughts…she wondered why Duran had not come to see her yet. Once she was back inside of her room, Althea huffed as she sank into her desk chair. Tears stung her eyes as she worried for her friends and father, and especially not getting to see Duran once more.

“You didn’t really think I would leave without saying goodbye right?”

Althea jumped from her seat and gasped as Duran peeked around her curtains with a cheeky smile. She launched herself into his arms and he stumbled a bit but caught himself. “I…I thought you had left me…”

“I would never leave you, my love. I just wanted to say our goodbyes in private.”

“You scared me half to death!”

“I know I know…I’m sorry love…” He kissed her hand before he looked out the windows with a somber expression. The sun was finally starting to peek over the horizon and Althea once again found herself enamored with how handsome he truly was. His golden hair was starting to get long again and she reached a hand out to stroke it. Feeling her touch, he looked at her and kissed her hand.

“I wish you didn’t have to go…”

“I know it upset you…but…” He held her waist and tilted her chin to look at him. “I have to keep you safe. You and my family are the most important people in my life. Once this war is over…I will come back to you.”

“Promise me.”

“I promise, my love. I will come back to you and you will never know this pain again. I will never cause your heart this pain again.”

“You better not.” She pouted and he laughed as he stroked her cheeks. Duran looked back out the window and sighed deeply. “What is it?”

“The army is almost gone…I need to rejoin them soon…”

“….”

“Hey…don’t fret Thea. I will return before you know it.”

She huffed and he smiled at her again, and she couldn’t help but smile back. He kissed her hands gently before he pulled her closer to his body. His hand stroked her cheek before he held her chin and gently touched her bottom lip. Her breath caught in her throat as he brushed her hair behind her ear. His soft smile captured her as they both leaned forward. The pair finally had their moment as their lips met in the sweetest embrace. 

Duran was gentle and courteous of her as he planted soft kisses against her lips. Pulling back slightly between each kiss to tell her how much he loved her. It was everything she had imagined it would be like. It was something she wanted to do forever. Her hand fisted into his undershirt as her other lightly traced his neck and shoulder. He chuckled against her lips and she couldn’t help her giggle that followed.

“I’m sorry…” She whispered against his lips. “I’m not very good…”

“You’re perfect…” He whispered back as he kissed her lips more and stroked her cheek. “There is nothing to prove when you’re with someone you love…”

“I love you Duran…”

“I love you Althea…” Their soft kisses and gentle laughter filled the air as the dawn broke. The couple parted before long but not before one more sweet kiss and Althea giving Duran a token of her favor. He held her hands tightly before he left her a small box before he climbed from her window. Holding her hands together tightly she watched him disappear from her sight. Looking at the box in her hand, she opened it and gasped at the beautiful piece of jewelry inside. 

Laying in a bed of velvet, was a bracelet made of gold with a pendant dangling from it. Looking closer, she took note of a rose encased in resin. In pretty golden words, she smiled at the small message.

‘To my forever and eternal love, my sweetest rose’

Althea blew a kiss out the window as the last figures of the army disappeared over the horizon. She clasped her bracelet around her wrist before she sat at her desk. She would only hope and pray for the best because this was not a goodbye.

It was a see you soon…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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#Althea #Duran #Queen Hestia #King Kyros #Liam #Honora #love #war #fluff #original story #original work #oc

[noratilney]

For the OC Questions: 1, 2, 3, 14 & 18 for Veronika Lantsov, Abby, and Jasika, please! :-D

Thank you!

VERONIKA

What was the first element of your OC that you remember considering (name, appearance, backstory, etc.)?

I wanted her to be a Lantsov and a tidemaker. The backstory started as a way to explain why she had been absent during the story prior and then grew to add in some connections.

Did you design them with any other characters/OCs from their universe in mind?

Yes! I wanted her to look believably related to Nikolai so I looked at blonde fcs. This was before his casting was announced so I was working only with the book description. I had saved Hunter Schafer as a fc I wanted to use and I ended up picking her for Veronika.

How did you choose their name? 

Ravka draws on a lot of Russian names and terminology but doesn’t exactly stick strictly to it. A friend of a friend is named Veronika and she’s Polish-American so I thought it was in keeping with an Eastern European flavor. Also it works to give two different sounding nicknames, “Vera” and “Nika” which suited my purposes since Veronika has to conceal her identity.

If you had to narrow it down to 2 things that you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be? 

Veronika very much resents her Grandmother Yulia for keeping her locked up and away from people but she’s also a lot more sheltered than she realizes.

Relatedly, her whole objective is to leave, to escape but the what happens after is not really something she’d worked out which is also why she ends up entangled in the messiness happening in the Little Palace.

What is the most recent thing you’ve discovered about your OC?

Well, it turns out that Veronika’s tidemaker powers didn’t just spring out in her from nowhere… ;)

ABBY

What was the first element of your OC that you remember considering (name, appearance, backstory, etc.)?

Definitely backstory first.

Did you design them with any other characters/OCs from their universe in mind?

No, actually. I’m not sure how plausible she and any of her family members are at appearing related but I also don’t care.

I did choose to make her Caroline’s cousin almost immediately after committing to making her a Tyler Lockwood oc though.

Also I wanted her to share Trevino's Latino but passes for white background so that I could incorporate that element into Tyler's character biography and have Abby and Tyler interrogate what that identity means for each of them.

So wait, maybe yes then?

How did you choose their name? 

I've always been fond of the name Abby given one of my childhood best friends was named Abby and as a minor character appreciator, I’ve liked Abby Stevenson from the Babysitter's Club.

If you had to narrow it down to 2 things that you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be? 

Oh, fuck is this girl stubborn, oh my god. Like I love it and she shares that with me but also like please stop making your own life harder.

It ties in with the first thing but she also has a very pessimistic outlook on life and is always expecting the shoe to drop. Hence her resistance to romance or making long-term goals.

What is the most recent thing you’ve discovered about your OC?

For the longest time, she cannot for the life of her remember Klaus’ name and calls him by a rotating list of C and K names (although not to his face, lmao).

JASIKA

What was the first element of your OC that you remember considering (name, appearance, backstory, etc.)?

I started playing with the idea of making a Marcel oc after I got deep into Angelica, my Rebekah oc.

Did you design them with any other characters/OCs from their universe in mind?

Sort of? It depends on what you mean by that.

I knew I wanted Jasika to have some things in common with Marcel, particularly some things that he and Rebekah didn’t.

So I chose to have Jasika be a Black woman and I also made her a half-sister to Hayley.

How did you choose their name? 

This one is very simple. I borrowed it from the voice actress Jasika Nicole.

Ballard was chosen from scanning a list of surnames until I found one I liked.

If you had to narrow it down to 2 things that you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be?

Jasika is very twisted up inside over her whole family history. She’s hated Andrea Labonair and her mother for stealing her dad and being the Crescent Pack’s golden child for years even before she actually met Hayley.

For the record, this is not something Jasika's internalized from her mom. As I started writing this, I remembered how in Magic for Marigold, Marigold develops this intense hatred of her dead father's first wife, Clementine, who she despises for being held up against her mother. Marigold's mother Lorraine isn't bothered by it because she says when she shared her life with Marigold’s dad, they had a mature and loving partnership as opposed to the overly romanticized youthful relationship between him and Clementine. I think subconsciously that influenced this dynamic.

Anyway, it’s a little different here so I wouldn’t say Jasika’s mom has no bitterness or resentment over how Mr. Labonair handled his relationships but she’s also moved on with her life.

Jasika on the other hand is still seething about it and putting a face to her enemy has not changed that.

Marcel is clearly the more emotionally mature of the two of them when it comes to their respective familial mistreatment. He’s actually moved on to some degree.

What is the most recent thing you’ve discovered about your OC?

She went through a goth phase in her teens and still maintains a love of wearing black.

#asked and answered #wordspin-shares #veronika lanstov #abby cardenas #jasika ballard

[levisdarlin]

The Letter.

A/N: My second writing, I hope you all enjoy!

Summary: Levi finds the best way to tell Y/N he’s in love with her.

Warnings: Swearing, brief mentions of death.

W/C: 5.8K

“What was that?” Levi gripped Petra by her collar, pulling her face close to his own. He was furious, anyone could see it and no one dare to get involved.

“Captain, I, Y/N, she.” Petra stuttered out and Y/N hung her head in shame, Petra was about to get both barrels from the angry Captain and it was entirely Y/N’s fault.

“Capt-“ Y/N tried but Levi’s gaze snapped to hers, he was beyond angry, never had she been on the receiving end of that stare before. It was a promise that he would deal with her later.

“Shut it.” He spat out before his attention was back on the woman in his grasp.

Y/N regrets the small lie she told, well it was a huge lie really. Last week she’d suffered an ankle injury, been told she needed to rest it for a further week but she had failed to tell her Captain that crucial piece of information. Petra, as observant as she was, caught on quickly that Y/N’s movements were slower than usual, confronting her.

“Are you okay?” Petra’s concerned stare met Y/N’s gaze, Y/N had hissed through gritted teeth upon landing on the tree branch.

“Yeah, just my ankle.” Y/N sighed out, gaze shifting to Levi, who seemingly hadn’t noticed her lie to him. Odd that he wouldn’t have considering he noticed just about everything.

“Maybe the Captain will let you pull out.” She suggested in a hushed voice, they both knew that if Levi was to find out he was lied to he’d be more than furious.

“No.” Y/N’s eyes met hers, stern look in her eyes. “I can do this, it’s only minor. I can fight through it.” She said steadily, Petra sighed, shaking her head, no use in arguing as Y/N’s stubbornness matched the Captain’s. Maybe that was why he chose her as his second in command.

Y/N wishes she’d have just been honest and not lied to Levi about how serious her injury was, she hated the thought of being weak, Levi seeing her as weak. It wasn’t the first time she’d been injured recently, her thoughts elsewhere on the battlefield as she slipped up numerous times, last time it had been Levi himself that rescued her. This time, it had been Petra.

“I thought I taught all of you to be more careful. I thought I chose a squad that wouldn’t make rash decisions and I especially thought I’d picked a squad that knew better than to lie to me.” Levi spat out, Y/N’s eyes going wide. How could she have been so stupid? Of course Levi knew her ankle was bothering her, he noticed everything, this was no exception.

“You hypocrite.” Y/N got out, shocking herself and her team mates, Eld quickly making his way to her side as the Captain trained his eyes on his second in command.

“Y/N, be quiet.” Eld said quietly as the Captain let his grip on Petra go, Petra stumbling and falling onto her backside, Oruo quick to help her up. Everyone was shocked, Y/N never disobeyed Levi, never talked back to him or questioned him and now here she was name calling him.

“What did you just call me?” Levi’s narrow eyes were now on hers. She was beyond angry with her Captain, if he knew why did he let her go? Why didn’t he make her withdraw? He was shouting at Petra for saving her life, yet he had potentially risked it and not said a word about it.

“Nothing, Captain, I think she’s just in shock.” Eld tried to cover for her, Gunther had now disappeared, not wanting to be caught in the crossfire of his angry Captain and his second.

“I called you a hypocrite.” She spat, eyes meeting his, Levi’s widening slightly before he composed himself. She didn’t stop there though. “You knew!” She shouted at him, “you knew I wasn’t fit for this expedition and yet you still let me come.” She screamed, Erwin making an appearance, eyes wide as he watched the two.

Anyone who knew the Levi squad, knew Y/N and Levi didn’t argue, their minds often in sync as they worked together, she wasn’t far behind him when it came to skill, she could hold her own and easily take charge of the team when Levi had other duties. No one had ever seen the two disagree on a thing and now here she was shouting at him as he pinned her with his stare.

“How dare you lecture Petra.” Y/N seethed, walking towards her Captain, she may have been shorter but she held herself strong under his stare. “She may have acted recklessly by what she did but no more recklessly than you,” she said as she jammed a finger into his chest, “who let me go in the first place.”

“Are we going to ignore the fact that you lied to me.” Levi spat, hand grasping her finger that was still on his chest. It was like no one else was there, the two were completely focused on each other as the anger radiated through everyone else who was stood there.

“Calm down.” Erwin started, moving towards the two but neither were listening, ignoring their Commander.

“I might have lied to you Captain but I had my reasons. You, however, have no reason to punish Petra over a decision I made and you allowed.” She gritted out, Levi had lowered her hand now, it was between the two of them as they leaned closer to one another, staring each other down.

“What were your reasons for lying to me? Do you have a death wish is that what it is?” Levi started. “I’ve noticed, you’ve not been your best recently, always making stupid mistakes, relying on me to save your pathetic ass.” Levi snarled out at her and her heart sank, so he did see her as weak.

“If you’d noticed, why didn’t you say anything?”

“I’m your Captain, not your babysitter. You’re an adult aren’t you? I can’t make every decision for you.”

“Whatever Captain.” She spat out as she ripped her hand from his. “Whatever punishment you might have, I’ll take, but leave Petra out of it.” She said, everyone was watching in horror as the two stared at each other, anger washing over the Captain’s features, gasps filling the air with his next words.

“I’m giving you two weeks to find a new squad.” Y/N’s heart sank, he was kicking her off the team?

“Fine.” She spat, walking past him, tears brimming her eyes, she let them fall once her back was to him.

Levi regretted the words the second they left his mouth, wishing he could grasp them and stuff them back down his throat. He didn’t miss her faltering expression, the tears that brimmed her eyes as she stormed past him, Erwin looked more than disappointed but said nothing as he rode back towards the wall. Hange had been quiet throughout the exchange, shaking their head, following after Y/N who had started to retreat back to the wall as well.

“Back to the wall. I expect your paperwork on my desk by tomorrow.” Levi snapped as he jumped back onto his horse. Petra was crying, trying hard to conceal her tears, Levi couldn’t decipher his own emotions in that moment. It was easier to ignore them, easier to ignore the feeling that was so clearly pulling at his heart every time he was around Y/N.

Why had he let her go? He knew she still wasn’t fit, yet he let her go. Maybe it was because he trusted his own skill, trusted his own will when it came to her on the battlefield, he always had an eye on her, always felt the need to make sure she was safe. He knew he’d never let a thing happen to her. Maybe he trusted her instincts, trusted that she was in fact strong enough, despite what the doctors had said. He wasn’t truly angry with Petra, he was angry with himself but it was easier to channel that anger elsewhere.

“I’m sorry Captain.” Petra said quietly as she rode next to him, he sighed shaking his head.

“Forget about it. It’s done.” Levi said as he urged his horse faster.

**

Y/N hadn’t spoken to Levi, avoiding him unless she had to, her ankle had fully healed by now. She sighed as she pulled her boot up. This was to be her last mission in the Levi squad before she was moved to her new one, she briefly debated sending in a request to sit it out, knowing Levi would most likely happily sign it. That, she concluded, would be selfish, this was a harsh mission, one that was going to cost lives and not the time for a personal fight to get in the way.

She was placed to Levi’s left, she felt his gaze on her but refused to look at him. She was angry with him, how could he not see how she felt? Everyone else knew, Petra had been the first to pick up on it, teasing her lightly over the information. The gates opened and Erwin told everyone to move forward, today was a day you reclaimed territory, a titan massacre was expected today, she needed to focus, forget what was going on around her and focus on the mission at hand.

**

It was a blood bath, soldiers corpses, titan’s corpses littered the field, her vision was obscured by the steam of fallen titans, the blood that was covering her faster than it was vanishing. She was doing well, her and Levi having been sent to the front lines, having taken out more titans than most squads had combined. The rest of Levi squad was tasked with evacuating the injured, Y/N and Levi having been asked to fight as a two man squad for the mission.

“How many are left?” She asked as she landed next to Levi, catching her breath. Muscles aching as she changed her gas. Levi looked down at her crouched figure on the branch, admiring her, she was incredibly skilled, knew how to hold her own and he regretted his words almost two weeks ago now more than ever.

“I don’t know, they just keep coming.” Levi said as he watched a new wave of titans approach. “How are your supplies? Do you need to withdraw?” Levi asked and she shook her head, she was as good as he was at conserving her gear. She zipped past him, taking out three titans in quick succession, Levi quick to follow.

They were doing well, they ended up being two of ten soldiers left, everyone else either dead or injured. Miche and Hange were taking them out one by one, everyone doing better than Erwin anticipated, however, he had sent his most elite soldiers in. Her blades were starting to blunt, she had to find Levi, change tactic because she couldn’t guarantee her blades would slice well enough anymore and she had no spares left by now.

“Levi?” She called out, his body landing next to hers quicker than she anticipated. “My blades are blunt.” She said as Levi moved to take down the titan that was fast approaching.

“Withdraw.” Levi commanded and she sighed out, she didn’t have a choice and he was on his last set of blades so couldn’t share.

“But what about?” She started and he interrupted her as he landed in front of her.

“Withdraw. That is an order.” He said as he pushed her towards her horse.

She did as she was told, jumping up and onto her horse, making her way back to the temporary shelter they’d made. The rain started, thick and heavy as it beat down on her, she could barely see, only hoping she was headed in the right direction.

Half an hour later and the area was clear of titan’s, the rain had soaked them all through by the time they reached their base. Levi took his cloak off, giving it to a cadet who hastily ran towards the wash room with it. He found Erwin who was hunched over paperwork on his makeshift desk.

“All done, we can move there tomorrow.” Levi informed and Erwin looked up, expecting to see his second in command by his side.

“Where is L/N?” Erwin asked with furrowed brows and Levi felt his heart stop. Eyes widening as he looked towards his squad, she wasn’t with them.

“I told her to withdraw.” Levi said turning on his heel as he made his way back towards to exit of the tent.

“Levi! It’s not safe.” Erwin said as Levi stormed past Hange, knocking them slightly as he did, the section Commander cursing him as he left.

She was lost, that much she knew, a wrong turn? She couldn’t be sure, having one flare on her person, she couldn’t waste it, she’d have to wait it out until morning. She felt somewhat grateful as she saw an abandoned set of houses, at least she could get out of the cold and the rain. She stopped in her tracks as she heard the footsteps, ground shaking as the thundering sound could be heard from her left.

“Fuck.” She whimpered out as she quickly ran into the nearest house, taking cover underneath the window ledge, praying to god that the titan wouldn’t see her. She knew it would be able to smell her, she looked down at her blades, they probably wouldn’t cut through its nape. She squeezed her eyes shut as she willed herself to think. Ignoring the sounds outside, she focused on her best options, it was only one titan.

All she had to do was outrun it, but that came with risk as she didn’t know how big it was. Her blades would cause damage to its eyes still, of that she was sure. She opened her eyes, looking at her surroundings, the titan was outside the building now, frantically looking around for what it could smell, she knew she wouldn’t be safe for much longer. She had to hope she hadn’t strayed too far for this plan to work, she had to hope that someone would see it.

She took in a deep breath, readying herself as she stood to her feet, the opening from the house onto the roof was clear, she quickly ran up the ladder and onto the roof. Using her few seconds before the titan spotted her to set off her flare gun, this would make or break her plan, someone had to see it. The titan snapped it’s attention to her as it heard the noise, face determined as it turned it’s body towards her, she waited patiently for her opening.

The titan made to grab her and she jumped out of the way, making sure her anchors lodged themselves into its cheek, she discarded her blades straight into its eyes and disconnected from it. She now had no blades and no flare, she had to act fast and she knew it. She landed on the ground as the titan cried out, moving its hands to cover its eyes as she mounted her horse. She knew she had around a minute to flee and get out of its sights.

She cried in relief when she saw the second smoke signal, someone had seen her, she dug her heels into her horse, willing it to go faster. She was charging in the direction of the flare, titan long left behind and she felt tears of relief make their way down her cheeks as he came into view.

“Y/N?” He shouted, voice so beautiful as it reached her ears. She doesn’t know what came over her, maybe the shock of everything, maybe the fact that she thought she’d never see him again. The second they both dismounted their horses she ran to him, wrapping herself around him as she cried into his shoulder. He was stunned, completely taken aback as he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her from him.

“Are you hurt?” He asked and she shook her head. Levi examined her for a moment before deciding she was indeed okay. “Let’s get back.” He said as he stepped away from her, her heart sunk, oh yeah, she’d briefly forgotten they were in a bad place, not on speaking terms.

“Why’d you come back?” She asked carefully as she got onto her horse and trailed behind her captain.

“You’re a part of my squad for now and therefor my responsibility.” He said coolly. Her heart shattered, she wanted him to love her back so badly, she stupidly hoped he’d come for her because he did.

“Out of duty then?” She asked and he turned to her brows furrowed.

“Why else would I?” He snapped and she hung her head as for the second time in two weeks, Levi regretted his words. Why couldn’t he just talk to her and tell her what he wanted to tell her?

“It doesn’t matter.” She muttered as they fell into silence. That was how it was the entire journey back, the two riding in awkward silence. The words on the tips of their tongues but never uttered.

**

She was clean now, night gown on as she sat on the edge of her makeshift bed, one advantage of being Levi’s second in command meant she got her own bed. A place she could now cry as she let her heart break set in, after tomorrow she wasn’t gonna see Levi nearly as often as she did now, perhaps on the battlefield from time to time. She would miss the squad, miss Petra and her friendly nature. The rest of Levi squad, all of them.

A knock pulled her from her heart broken state, she pulled her dressing gown over her figure moving to answer the door. She gasped slightly as her ever stoic Captain stood in front of her, expression as unreadable as ever.

“Expecting someone else?” He asked and her hand fell from the door as she stepped aside to let him in.

“No. But I have to admit, you were the last person I expected.” She said so honestly that it made Levi’s heart clench, how could she not see how much he cared for her?

“I just came to say that I never had Erwin sign your transfer papers.” He said and she furrowed her brows as she looked at him.

“What?” She gaped and he forced his gaze into her eyes.

“You’re not pathetic. In fact you’re my best soldier and I can’t afford to not have you on  my squad.” He said. “I acted out of anger and I apologise.” He spoke and she raised her brows at that, Levi didn’t apologise.

“So I’m not going anywhere?” She asked and he shook his head.

“Not unless you want to.”

“I don’t.” She said and he nodded. She watched him carefully as he fished around in his pocket, he drew a piece of paper out and handed it to her.

“That’s for you. You know where I’ll be if you want me, however, if you don’t like what you read then I would appreciate it if you just never brought it up.” Levi said and she opened her mouth in shock as she watched his cheeks tint with red before he hastily left her room, shutting her door behind him.

Her hands clutched the piece of paper as she unfolded it and sat at her desk. Her head filling with confusion as she studied the hand writing, it was his, she knew that, scribbles all over the page. It was littered with words crossed out, words she would never make out, so unlike his usual organised self.

Y/N,

I’m terrible with words, I think everyone who knows me, knows that. I thought maybe if I wrote it down it would be easier to say. So I’m writing it down because every time I try and say it to your face, I can’t.

I don’t think you’re pathetic, I’m sorry I ever said that. I think you’re incredibly strong, not just physically but emotionally too. I admire your optimism, your ability to always keep the teams spirits up when times are tough.

I noticed, when you weren’t okay, I notice everything. I wanted so badly to come and speak to you but I didn’t know how. I’m not a man who is good with emotions, I can read them but I don’t know how to act, I didn’t exactly have the best upbringing and as a consequence I only know discipline and harshness.

I want to be different, I want to try, for you. I always have but I never want to get it wrong, I never want to say or do the wrong thing. I wanted so badly to tell you that you couldn’t come on the last mission, but I was afraid I’d say it too harshly and push you away. I suppose I did that though, I didn’t want to but I did. I fucked up and I’m sorry.

I’ve been in love with you for a long time but never known how to say it. I hoped you’d notice, notice how I’ve always treated you differently, always favoured you. I thought you’d notice that you were always in my sights on an expedition or how it would always be me that made sure you were safe.

You are too good for me. This is a fact I came to terms with a long time ago, you deserve someone who knows how to treat you, who knows how to comfort you when you’ve had a bad day or knows all the right things to say. You deserve a man who can love you better than I ever could but please know that I do love you, more than you could ever imagine or more than I can put into words.

I wanted to take it to the grave with me, never tell you. But selfishly I had to, it’s been weighing on my mind and I’m finding it more difficult to talk to you, I keep fucking it up and I had to let you know. I had to tell you that I get angry because that’s all I know. I worry about you, constantly, I want you by my side all the time. It’s not because I’m angry with you that I shout, it’s because I love you so much that I don’t know how to deal with the emotion, it isn’t one I’m familiar with.

But if you give me the chance, I’ll try. I’ll try for you, be a better man, for you. I know you deserve better but the selfish part of me just wants you, forever.

I’ll love you always,

Levi.

She was crying as she finished the letter, folding it up and holding it to her heart, tears of joy, confusion and love falling from her eyes. He did love her back, he always had and she’d missed it because she was expecting too much from him, she wanted him to flirt, to say it out right to her face but she had been too expecting. This was Levi, a man who grew up in the harsh underground, he had a criminal past, of course he wasn’t good at expressing his emotions.

She should have noticed the way he kept her close, the way he fought Erwin when the Commander offered her her own squad. Levi had always had a habit of keeping her close to him, the way his eyes wouldn’t stop flicking through a crowd until they landed on her, until he saw she was safe. The way he would always check her first for injuries even if a member of the squad had a more visible one. The way he would bring her tea when she was working late or give her the day off when she was under the weather.

He’d never given her harsh punishments, the worst she ever received was cleaning up the kitchen and that had been way back in her days of training with him. He’d always held a protective nature over her and she had missed it because she was looking for more obvious signs and she realised how unfair she’d been, the poor man had tried to tell her through his actions and she’d been so blind waiting for a grand gesture that she’d dismissed it.

He’d been angry that day because she lied to him, what was she expecting him to do, announce his love for her in front of the entire squad? Yes. Had it been unfair of her to expect that from him? Yes. Levi was a man of few words, always picking them carefully, being in love with her put him in uncharted territory, of course he didn’t want to say it. He would have been so terrified of her rejection, terrified that the first and only person he’d ever felt that way about would reject him.

Then he’d done one of the most romantic things she’d ever witnessed, he wrote her a letter. He swallowed his fears and he wrote it down. Found a way to express his feelings in a different way and she couldn’t think of anything more perfect because that was Levi, he was different. Different to any man she’d ever been with before, his care for the people in his squad was clear as day if a person just took the time to look.

“I heard you’re staying.” Petra pulled her from her thoughts, shoulder leant against the doorway of her bedroom.

“Yeah.” She said as she wiped her nose and placed the letter to her side.

“Did he give you a hard time?” She asked sympathetically, Petra knew Levi had been here, she’d bumped into her Captain on the way to Y/N’s room. Although Petra did note that something was off, he had never been so quick to get away from her, cheeks tinted red as he hurried down the hallway.

“No.” Y/N said through a teary smile.

“Oh?” Petra pried with a raised brow. Petra and Levi had forgotten about his outburst on the field, both putting it down to high tension. That and Petra knew he was in love with his second, Levi was always a loose cannon when it came to Y/N’s safety, she was quick to observe that.

“He told me he loves me.” She said as she held the letter up, Petra smiled at the revelation, it was about time.

“Why are you still here?” She asked, teasing in her tone. “Come on Y/N/N, you’ve tortured him long enough.”

“You knew?”

“We all did. It was so obvious I don’t know how you both missed it. We had bets on how long it would take. Erwin won, we lost years ago.” She laughed and Y/N stood, hugging Petra as she hastily made her way out of the door. “He’s in his office.” Petra shouted down the hall after Y/N, shaking her head with a fond smile.

Y/N couldn’t recall where his makeshift office was located, darting down the hallways looking for obvious signs. She screamed lightly as she ran into someone, hands grasping her arms as they steadied her.

“L/N.” The voice of her commander rang out, he cleared his throat as he looked at her disheveled state, her dressing gown open as her night gown had slipped down her chest slightly, he averted his eyes.

“Where’s Levi’s office?” She asked hurriedly.

“Second door on the right.” Erwin said as she darted past him. “L/N?” He shouted and she turned to look at him. He gestured to her chest, ears and cheeks red, she looked down, the curve of her breasts prominent.

“Oh come on Erwin. You’re not a kid, there’s no nipple.” She laughed out as Erwin shook his head with a fond laugh, watching the woman race down the hallway.

She halted outside his door, fixing herself as she knocked, adrenaline pumping through her.

“Name and business.” Came his bored and slightly tired response.

“Levi?” She said through the wood of the door and within the seconds the door was yanked open. He looked breath taking. Jacket and straps discarded, shirt unbuttoned and sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

“Y/N?” He said through a breath and she jumped on him, knocking him backwards. He caught her, legs wrapped around his waist as he steadied himself. She wasted no time in pressing kisses to his face, holding her hands on his cheeks. He was stunned as he kicked the door shut with his foot, hands grasping her thighs.

“I love you too.” She said as she continued to press kisses to his reddening cheeks. This was strange for Levi, he wasn’t a man who ever craved affection but the longer she pressed herself against him the more he wanted.

She dropped back to her feet, taking his hand in her own as she linked them together next to them. Her happiness radiating off her and worming it’s way into the Captain’s heart, he smiled down shyly at her as she smiled lovingly back up at him.

“You read it?” Levi asked and she nodded.

“I loved it, I love you.” She said and Levi nodded, this was a first for him, he didn’t do shy yet here he was. “I’m sorry, I should have noticed, I was waiting for some grand gesture.” She said and he hung his head.

“That’s not me. I’m sorry.” He said in insecurity, he hoped that over time he may be able to express his love for her better.

“But it is.” She said as she cupped his cheek with her free hand and forced him to look at her, confusion written all over his usually unreadable features. “That was a grand gesture, it was romantic beyond belief Levi.” She breathed out as she stood on her tiptoes, forehead pressing against his.

He enjoyed the affection, truly he did but they both knew she’d have to take the lead. Levi had never had a relationship before, sure he’d fucked a few women but it had never been romantic, it was something he was so sure he wouldn’t be good at. He melted into her touch, let her take the lead as he tried to find the right words and she waited patiently.

“I’ll learn, for you. I’ll learn how to do this whole romance shit.” He said and she laughed in endearment, he was far more perfect for her than he gave himself credit.

“If something makes you uncomfortable all you have to do is say, we can take this as slowly as you want.” She said and he smiled, closing his eyes as he let the moment in, tried to unscramble his thoughts. He tentatively and slowly raised his hand, placing it under her chin as he held her.

“You’ll have to take the lead. I’m relying on you for guidance on this one.” He said and she smiled.

“Just do what feels right.” She whispered, her eyes finding his, he let go of her hand, placing it on her waist as hers raised to his chest. Their eyes flickered between each other’s and each other’s lips, he wanted so badly to close the gap but he didn’t want to scare her off, she sensed it. “It’s okay, you can kiss me, it’s okay.” She said softly.

That was all it took, her soft words of reassurance as he closed the gap between them, lips finding hers. It was soft, careful as he closed his eyes and basked in the moment. She kept still, not wanting to push him, she would follow his lead and go as far as he wanted to. He pulled her closer by her waist after a while, her hand fisting his shirt.

He breathed in deeply through his nose, carefully opening his mouth and he whimpered slightly as her tongue grazed his bottom lip. He followed her lead, tongue meeting hers as he followed her lead, his hand sliding further round her back as he pulled her flush against him, he wanted her closer.

Their tongues fought for dominance and both were surprised when Levi won, tongue sliding into her mouth and she couldn’t help the moan that escaped her throat. Levi froze for a second, thinking he’d done something wrong until he felt her hand slide up and onto his shoulder, pulling him closer. He took a plunge, teeth slowly grazing her bottom lip and she moaned again.

Their moves were slow, passionate until Levi felt his confidence rise, she wanted this, she wanted him and he was prepared to give himself to her, let her see him vulnerable, for her. She moaned again as the hand cupping her cheek slid up and into her hair, cupping her head as her own hand slid up and into his hair. He groaned into her mouth as she lightly tugged, stepping towards her, causing her to step back, this continued until she was backed up against the wall. He was getting firmer with his kisses, more passionate as he poured his love for her into the kiss and she reciprocated.

His hand slid from her waist, finding her thigh as he lifted it, pulling it around his hip and she moaned against him again. Heart beats hammering in their chests, she placed her head back against the wall as he moved his lips, peppering kisses down her jaw and neck, getting lost in the sounds she was making, all for him. Her hand grasped his hair tighter causing him to groan as she pulled him back up to face her.

With a final kiss, she brought her leg back to the ground, breath coming out heavy as she steadied her breathing. Levi looked at her, breathing matching hers as he too tried to compose himself.

“That was-“ He started but stopped himself, her eyes shining with nothing more than love for the man in front of her.

“Better than I imagined.” She finished as she hugged him tight. They stayed like that, Y/N coaxing his hand onto the back of her head and he took the hint straight away, stroking her hair. It was a moment neither of them would trade for the world. She pulled back, looking up at him.

“Does this mean you’ve never cuddled before?” She asked and Levi furrowed his brows as he looked down at her.

“Pardon?”

“You haven’t?” She asked excitedly, suddenly jumping from his hold. “You have a lot to learn.” She said as she grasped his hand, pulling him towards his bedroom for his next lesson and he gladly followed.

#Levi ackerman #levi x reader #levi ackerman x reader #levi ackerman fluff #levi ackerman angst

[bloomyagi]

bleed me dry (m)

summary: where Itadori is your bottom-loving boyfriend and Sukuna reluctantly learns this vessel is the real curse. or: where seduction is a dangerous game, and the King of Curses loses.

pairings: itadori x f!reader, sukuna x f!reader

warnings: subby itadori, sub sukuna (yeah you read that right), light bondage, blindfolds, sukuna’s havin a whole ‘reconsidering life’s meaning’ moment, lotta swear cause u know sukuna things, coming untouched, he faints (yeah you also read that right) and is actually unabashed about it, all things considered

length: 1,432

notes: what? me? obsessed with jjk? that doesn’t sound like me at all! 

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His vessel is in love.

The word curdles in his mouth, tastes like ash. He has never known such a thing. It is part of his nature, he muses absently. Hardened from centuries of death and decay. Of destruction and war. He revels in it. Feels the most alive amongst the chaos.

But that’s the point. Curses can feel. They can have emotional attachment. Can’t you see? In so many ways, they’re not so different from us. He thinks you’re too loud. Your thoughts and beliefs are too loud. They’re also pointless and naïve, and he likes to pop by just to drive it home.

Hello, Sukuna. Where is the fear? Where is the resentment, the anger? The disgust? He enjoys it. But you—you just sit there and coax him into conversation like he’s another one of your classmates. Like he can’t crush your windpipe with a single flick of his hand. Like he isn’t the slow bleed of a death sentence for your lover. Like he isn’t anything at all. Like his titles and powers are stripped. What is he beyond it all? Who is he?

You ask about him sometimes. He rarely gives any indication he’s listening, but he does. Of course he does. There’s not much to do, bound and locked in this pink-haired boy. He lounges on this throne and watches his vessel pine and blush.

Sukuna watches his vessel fuck his fist and mewl your name every night.

It’s sad. “Brat,” he hisses. “Grow some balls. This is just pathetic.”

Itadori swallows. “Oh. Can you—?”

Sukuna shoves him off the ledge. A faint yelp travels, followed by a large splash. “Fuck her already. All this sitting and plotting is making my ass itch. If you won’t, I will.”

“You wouldn’t.” Sukuna tilts his head to peer down. Itadori’s eyes are narrowed, uncharacteristically solemn.

His lips bare into a slow grin. “Try me.”

Itadori blinks once. And then vanishes.

.

.

.

Fuck. It’s the only coherent thought his muddled mind can pierce together. He gazes down at his palm, opening and closing languidly. His vision is blurry, spine tingling. He raises the other hand, reaching for his palm.

Mmm. He shakes his head firmly. The sharp tinge of metallic and iron coating his tongue clears the fog a little. The pain fades quickly, muted from his years of conquest and ruin.

Every nerve is on fire. His skin, this flesh cage, burns, an unfamiliar heat curling in his lower stomach. Sukuna is no stranger to the pleasures of the flesh—is well-acquainted, spent much of the centuries indulging in his vast harems. In the haze of blood and carnage, there is the memory of writhing bodies, of soft thighs and breasts, of glazed eyes and cries of his name. Of women fucked into wanton abandon, bred and lost in the worship of his cock.

But this. This heat is foreign in every sense. In its strange intensity and all-encompassing hold. All his senses are heightened but laser focused on the other pair of hands mapping his body. On the addicting sensations they’re inducing.

Can you—? Yes. Yes, he fucking can. He can feel everything and he wants to wrap his hand around your throat and squeeze.

His eyes roll back. Ngh.

“Fucking wench,” he snarls. You’re a fuckin’ tease and if you edge him again, he is going to murder—

“Ah, ah. Watch your language, Sukuna. Ask nicely.”

He jolts. Finds his eyes cloaked in darkness, arms tied to his back and legs spread. Bare, save for a pair of briefs that’s slick and restricting. Kneeling. The sheets bunch beneath him. Every muscle in his body is tensed, body coated in a thin layer of sweat.

This position—!

“That brat—mmph!” Is that a fucking—gag? Did you just gag him? He struggles harder against the binds, but he feels your lips curl into a smile where you’re suckling against the column of his neck.

“You’re powerless here. The binds will restrict you for the next twenty-four hours … unless you can be good.” You trace the thick knots, smiling only growing at the way he lets out a muffled growl.

Every fucking sense is heightened tenfold. He’s on firefirefire. The flames consuming him inside out, like he’s being exorcised from within.  

It’s humiliating. It’s exhilarating. It feels—

“King of Curses. I want you to beg.” You’re a witch. You’re enthralling. Temptation incarnate. His head falls forward, chest heaving.

“Mmmmf!”

“What a dirty mouth,” you murmur, and his struggling is renewed when he feels your fingers dig into his thighs.

Oi, brat, he growls. What the hell is this?

His vessel is silent, but the back of his mind prickles. He’s watching. That freaky little shit.

“So stubborn. Let go. You’re good at that, aren’t you?” Fuckfuckfuck, you’re palming his cock over the thin fabric. Maybe it’s been a while, maybe there’s a little more truth lurking beneath it, but he vaguely notes he’s never been so hard before.

You—! You’re fuckin’ burning his briefs off. Ash tickles his nose. A small part of him thinks it’s hot. His cock throbs, and even without visual confirmation, he knows you’ve paused at the sheer size. His mouth curls into a lopsided smirk, dark pride making his chest swell. What was he so worked up for? You’ll just end being another one of his breeding bitches, fucked stupid by his thick, long cock.

But then you pinch his left nipple, twisting harshly. Electricity courses through him and a sound he’s never heard in his absurdly long life escape his lips, muffled by the gag. His back arcs, head hitting the mattress beneath him.

His mind blanks, eyes rolling back as white noise fills his ears.

.

.

.

He rouses slowly.

He blinks lethargically at the ceiling, gaze unfocused. Everything feels muted, limbs heavy like he’s swimming in a pool of ink. But he’s not restrained anymore. There’s a blur of movement in the corner of his eye.

He turns his head to peer at you, half-lidded.

“That’s a very nice expression,” you chuckle, moving to sit by his side. The mattress dips lightly. He lifts a hand to tug at the hem of your outfit, expression twisting at the staggering movement.

“That’s a very nice look on you,” he murmurs in response. You’re wearing one of his vessel’s dress shirts, the oversized fabric falling mid-thigh. It simultaneously swallows you and presses against your curves. Something inside him stirs. His throat feels shot, even though he knows he hasn’t had much of a chance to speak.

You help him sit up, propped against the headrest, before offering him a glass of water. His lips lift into a half-smirk and you sigh, shaking your head but acquiescing. You take a mouthful before kissing him. Water dribbles down his chin.

You wipe it away with a half-fond, half-exasperated expression. His chest tightens.

“How long—?” He tries to move, but you stop him with a firm hand. He’s conflicted at the way his body responds immediately to the touch. His temperature flares despite his obvious fatigue.

“A few hours. I asked if Yuuji would keep you out until you woke.”

There’s a pause, and the knowing look in your eye tells him you know he’s mulling it over.

And then—

He reaches for you, and you set the glass aside to climb on his lap.

He bares his fangs. “Then let’s make the most of it.”

As you press him into the bed, tongue stroking his in such a manner his brain is starting to haze over again quickly, he thinks, brat, we’re going to have a long talk after this.

Sukuna doesn’t expect an answer after his vessel’s continued vigil, so he starts when Itadori replies, she’s ours.

I don’t share, he slurs. He thinks he sees a flicker of Itadori’s grin.

You’re going to have to. Because you like her, too. And she’s the one in control, not either of us.

Dimly, Sukuna acknowledges he’s right. You might be the one bouncing on his cock, but he’s not the one fucking you, you’re the one fucking him.

Fine, he gasps as you run your nails down his abdomen. Deal.

Good, his vessel says. Because I’m next, and you better not get in the way.

He growls, eyebrows knitting.

Your smile only grows.

#jujutsu kaisen #sukuna x reader #sukuna smut #itadori x reader #yuji itadori x reader #itadori smut #jujutsu kaisen smut #jujutsu kaisen imagines #sub!sukuna

[wearywinchester]

Regrets

Dean Winchester x Reader

Summary: When a fight leaves you both having some regrets, a little space brings some clarity.

Word Count: 3.8k

Warnings: angsts, injury, mentions of death, guilt, comfort, fluff

The tension swirling around in the car was nearly unbearable, thick and heavy as you sat pressed to the passenger side door. You’d been doing it out of spite for the older Winchester, feeding off each other’s anger, each other’s huffs and puffs. He’d noticed just how far away you were sitting and it had him tensing his jaw because he knew exactly what you were doing and it was working.

It was working and he absolutely wouldn’t admit it.

The hunt had gone all kinds of wrong, couldn’t have gone worse apart from one of you dying. Actually, you almost did and that was the problem. That was every bit Dean’s problem and the very thought of it sent his anger from a simmer to a boil in the pit of his stomach every time it crossed his mind. To be more specific, it’s the only thing he’s been thinking about this whole time. But in true Dean Winchester fashion, the fear and concern eating away at him didn’t come out so clearly.

His vulnerability was mostly expressed through anger. Yelling and shutting down, mumbling strings of curses— it was anger in its truest form just to hide how scared he really is.

It was quiet, no radio no nothing save for the occasional clear of his throat or a heavy exhale coming from either one of you. It was quiet and you couldn’t wait to get out of that car, couldn’t wait to be back at the and take up residence in your room, maybe even one of the spares just to be farther from him. You have plenty of them to choose from. You felt like you’d scream if you spent even so much as another ten minutes with him.

You’d gotten hurt that day, gotten hurt and it wasn’t unlike other times. It wasn’t ideal how the hunt should have gone, ideally you wouldn’t have been a ghost’s kebab as she stuck her hand right through you and around your heart. Ideally you wouldn’t have been thrown against a wall without care for where you landed by Casper the unfriendly ghost. You almost sealed your fate that day all for the sake of getting the job done. All for the sake of saving lives.

That was his problem.

But, his problem wasn’t expressed in the best of ways. It was expressed in shouts and running his hand through his hair, in telling you he never wants you hunting again and a tightly clenched jaw. You argued back and forth for the better part of half the trip home, that lump still sitting heavy in your throat as you suppress your tears.

You were dying to be back home, in fact, you weren’t waiting another minute.

“Let me out,” you said, tone angry as you spoke.

His brows furrowed, looking at you for a moment. “What?”

“Pull over and let me out.”

“Not a chance, it’s ten at night and it’s about to freakin’ rain, Y/n. Who knows what’s out there,” he says, his voice raising.

“I know what’s out there, Dean, we hunt it for a living. Let me out. I’d rather walk than spend another minute listening to you huff and puff.”

“No.”

He pretended that it didn’t sting as much as it did, he pretended it didn’t make him swallow thickly and hid it with a little more tension in his jaw. They were just words. Just words spoken out of anger much like all of the things the two of you had spoken in the last half hour.

You could hear the frustration in his voice, in the single word, could see the tension in his jaw and just how tightly he gripped the wheel. That crease between his brows was deeper than ever and it showed each time a car passed you by.

“Dean.”

“Do you like throwing yourself in danger, Y/n? Is that what it is?” He asked.

You rolled your eyes, breathing out a huff that’s more than dramatic as the anger you feel only gets worse, both your anger is. You’re both feeding off of your own frustrations at this point and you can bear another second of it.

“Pull the damn car over or I’ll jump out myself,” you grit out, because if you talk any louder your voice just might fail you.

In a matter of seconds he veers off to pull over as you insisted, braking with a little more force than necessary as he stared ahead at the road. You were blind to the incoming storm, and Dean definitely wasn’t, couldn’t have been. But he pulled over anyway just like you wanted him to.

“You hate me so much, fine, you’re free to go.”

You pause for a moment, gaze narrowed at him before you grabbed your bag. “Yeah, well, maybe I do.”

Without another word from either of you, you got out, missing the way he looked at you as you did and the way he bit the inside of his cheek. And you missed the look on his face when you slammed the door shut, slinging your bag over your shoulder. After a beat of silence he pulls away, tires screeching against the pavement as he sped off down the road with the rev of his engine muffling the farther he gets.

You swallow thickly as you tighten your jacket around yourself, gaze narrowed as you watch the red of the tail lights disappear. Your anger still simmered as your heart raced, but that lump in your throat became near impossible to suppress as you walked along the gravelly side of the road by yourself. But that’s just it—you were by yourself. Those tears you fought so hard to hide glossed over your eyes now, spilling over your cheeks now. All of that built up frustration was seeping it’s way out.

You didn’t have to be so stubborn now that you were all alone, didn’t have to keep that front you put up for the sake of looking strong in front of green eyes.

Gravel and fallen leaves crunched under your feet as you walked along, the noises almost uncomfortably loud in contrast to your surroundings. You felt like an easy target for whatever is out there, felt like all eyes were on you despite the very real fact that you were all by yourself. But a part of you didn’t care at this point.

That adrenaline from the hunt still coursed through you, fueled by dwindling frustration that came and went in waves. It was seeping out in the form of tears, in the form of you kicking rocks in your path and throwing caution to the wind as you walked with heavier footsteps.

You weren’t that far from the bunker, not really. You had your knife tucked in your boot, you could handle yourself. You’re not as weak as you felt in that moment, and the emotions running wild through you was enough to have you putting up a good fight should you need to.

But you needed space. Needed space to keep any more words of regret from spilling past your lips. Needed space before you felt like your heart would burst right out of your chest.

You stuffed your hands in your pockets as you sniffed, tears running hot down cold cheeks as you watched the way your breath puffed out against the cold air. You tried to ignore the drizzle of the rain, tried to ignore it as you put your hood up, only for the wind to blow it right back down once more and after a few hasty battles with Mother Nature you decided to give it up. Decided to toss away your comfort as the icy droplets fell down on you heavier and heavier as the seconds passed.

You settle for picking up your pace as you walk down the road, the one that’s never been ideally lit for as long as you can remember. You weren’t that far, not really, you could make it back.

You tried not to think about your wavering anger, and the way it wavered more and more each time you thought about your conversation in the car. You tried not to think about how comforting one of his flannels would be, or the warmth of his arms. You shook it from your mind because you had yourself convinced you had to be angry at him.

What happened that day wasn’t just some run of the mill incident on a hunt. It wasn’t scraped knees or busted lips, it was sprained ankles or bloody noses. You almost bit the bullet and hunted your last hunt that day. You still felt that pain in your chest despite the threat of that ghost being long gone and put to rest. You still felt that jarring fear, that shake in your hands, and you still felt that urge to cry over it despite your overwhelming need to feel like you’ve got to be tough even when you don’t.

It was all still there, and now you’ve gone and had a screaming match with the older Winchester. Now you’ve both gone and spewed more than enough things you regret.

You didn’t know what was worse, the regretful anger sitting heavy in your stomach, or your overwhelming desire to get out of this awful weather so you could sulk in the warmth of the bunker. To get rid of that heavy sense of feeling vulnerable walking by yourself even though you’d insisted on doing so. You insisted and you got what you wanted.

But you picked up the pace once you reached that familiar stretch of road, once you spotted home tucked in that hillside. You picked up the pace despite the fatigue you felt telling you to slow it down.

You were cold, you were wet, you were miserable.

Meanwhile, Dean was back at the bunker stewing in his own regret unbeknownst to you. He’d debated a million and one times on turning back and going to get you. He could’ve handled you arguing with him, could’ve handled you hating him. Well, you’d gone and said that you did and he doesn’t know if he really could handle it as much as he’d like to act like it. But you were angry, you were angry and so was he and nothing good ever came out of arguing.

You snagged the key from where the three of you kept it hidden and sniffled once more before you pushed the door open, shutting out the terrible weather behind you in favor of the sheltered warmth of the bunker.

The place seemed empty despite the fact that you knew it wasn’t. Sam should be back after a hunt with Eileen, and surely Dean was around here somewhere. You knew he was judging by the fresh tire tracks in the gravel but you tried not to think about it. You tried to think about going unnoticed until you could get a change of clothes. He didn’t need to see how miserable you looked, how right he was about the rain, how right he was about how scared you truly were after that day.

If he knew that, then that tough guy act you put up after all this time would crumble to pieces in an instant.

You may have been able to snag a dry change of clothes without being seen, may have been able to sneak off to the bathroom without it either. But he knew you were here, and he knew you had to have been worse for wear and it had his guilt and regret simmering in a frenzy.

He saw the wet and slightly muddy footprints in the hall, he saw your rain soaking jacket on the coat rack, heavy with the accumulated rainfall. He saw the way those footprints first went to your shared room, tracked them all the way down the hall to a room that’s farthest from his own. And in there were more wet clothes, cold and heavy as he gathered them to toss in the hamper, in there were soaked leather boots with mud caked on the edges.

You were stubborn as hell and so was he.

But that anger was beginning to wash away with the cold as you cleaned yourself up, as you tried your hardest to have the day roll off your shoulders. But that pain in your chest was only a dreadful reminder of its events. You wanted to be angry, and a part of you still was, because being angry was better than facing Dean Winchester in that moment.

You swiped that dampened wash rag over your face once more, too tired to go so far as to take a shower. Too tired to do much more than sulk and stew in a heap of emotions as you changed your clothes into dryer, warmer ones. They only comforted you so much with the feelings you’ve got weighing you down.

You didn’t know how much time had passed since you exchanged some less than desirable words with him, didn’t know where he was as you walked down the hall and slipped into the room you’d claimed that night. You didn’t notice the pile of wet clothes that’d gone missing, but you saw the extra blanket on the bed. It could’ve been Sam, could’ve been, but deep down you knew it wasn’t.

There were plenty of things you would’ve noticed had you come home a little bit earlier. But you didn’t.

He cleaned up the books he’d swept off one of the tables in the library out of his own frustration. He’d righted the chair he kicked, cleaned up the mess of anger and frustration he’d made in his room. He picked up the pieces of his regret for letting you get out of that car at the dead of night.

You got in bed, you switched off the lights and climbed under the covers as you let out a sigh, one that was just as shaky as ever as your tears decided they were quite done with you. As you lay there on your side you fail to see the shadows of the boots on the other side of your door, standing there for a moment before they’d disappeared once more.

You were tired as ever, physically fatigued and emotionally exhausted as you lay there in a bed that’s worse for wear as the springs dig into your side. The room didn’t feel quite so welcoming, didn’t feel quite so comfortable as yours did because a certain green eyed hunter wasn’t on the other side of the wall. He wasn’t on the other side of the mattress.

That anger and that hurt still coursed through you, but it wasn’t scorching and hot, it wasn’t singing your actions like they had been a while ago. You tried to push it out of your mind, trying your hardest to convince yourself that a good night’s sleep would be the best answer to all of this, that it would keep you from saying anything else you surely would regret saying as soon as they’re spoken.

But you know you’re far past doing that.

You try anyway, try to tuck yourself further under the blankets and close your eyes. You were beyond tired, the day robbing you of any energy, stripping you of a good mood for a good long while. You tried your hardest to fall asleep and put the day behind you like you know you probably should. Things were said and done and there was no changing it, so the most you could do was sleep and restart the next day. But you couldn’t.

You tossed and turned on that mattress for a good half hour, riddled with discomfort and your mind plagued with just one thing, just one person. You knew he’d be awake, that was something you were certain of even if he pretends to be asleep like he sometimes does.

Indecision weighs you down as you sit on the edge of the bed, feet pressed to the cold concrete floor. It tugs you in every direction as you walk to the door with reluctance and ultimately step into the dimmed hallway. It was quiet as ever as you walked, footsteps much quieter than the squeak of your rain soaked boots.

It took some walking before you saw the light in the kitchen streaming into the hall, heard the clatter of a few dishes. You made it to the doorway, made it all the way there before you froze. You paused and waited, waited to work up the nerve. It could have been Sam, it very well could have been him but the thud of his boots answered that for you, a sound that drew closer and had you turning and walking away.

You didn’t get very far.

“Y/n?” You froze once more and paused, waiting a moment before you turned around. His gaze was on you as you looked up at him, your brows furrowing. “It’s raining, isn’t it?”

You sigh, shifting on your feet. “No, not really.”

“You’re wet, Y/n.”

“I took a shower,” you counter, too fast for your words to be true. It’s quiet as he nods, completely unconvinced by your words and he hears the edge to your tone.

His mouth opens and closes a few times with words he doesn’t even know are on the tip of his tongue. There’s too many things he wants to say at once, namely the bang up job you did at cleaning that scrape on your cheek. Or the way you look like you’re chilled to the bone. Or maybe a spew of words of how much he regrets listening to you, how he hates himself for listening and letting you go like that.

But he finds he doesn’t have the opportunity when you find yourself doing the same, only you do find words to say.

“You don’t have to worry about me,” you say, looking at him for a moment before turning away and walking back down the hall.

You don’t see the way his hand reaches out, or the way it drops back to his side because you’re too busy rushing back to that miserable spare bedroom with another regret to add the the hefty and ever growing pile. It grows heavier when you hear that door close down the hall. It grows more and more as the seconds pass, as the minutes pass in that less than comfortable stupid spare room.

It’s laughable for you to think you’d make it a night on your own in there, not with the way you’re wiping angry tears away. It didn’t feel good to be at odds with him, not when it’s fueled by nothing more than stupidity and stubbornness at this point. There was no good reason to avoid him, no good reason to leave him standing there like you did.

You couldn’t take another minute.

You were quiet as you slipped out of that room with the intention of never returning to it, quiet as you padded back down that dimly lit hall towards your true home, rather the one that resides in that room. You’re timid as you twist the knob and open the door, finding green eyes laying on his side of the bed, the lamp switched off.

You swallow thickly as you stand there timidly, your lip between your teeth in a nervous habit. You let the moments pass as you stand there unsure of yourself, waiting a moment more before you close the door behind you. You circle the bed and climb in quietly, under the blankets before you turn and lay on your side too, your back to him.

It’s tense at first, tense for a good long few minutes with nothing other than the sound of the two of you breathing and the sound of the blankets rustling when one of you moves. But that tense quiet is melted as you feel his arm draped over you, tugging you closer and closer until you’re pressed to his chest.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers into your skin, soft but enough for you to hear.

You can hear the regret in his hushed tone, can hear the guilt weighing the two words down. At first you’re quiet, staring ahead as your lip wobbles under your emotions. You don’t say anything but after a little while you turn around, face to face with the expression that matched the words.

You look at him for a moment, gaze bouncing over every inch of his face. You swallow as you look at him, quietly mulling everything over that you wish you hadn’t said that day. But there’s one thing that keeps coming back, one thing that weighs heavy.

“I could never hate you,” you murmur, soft and embarrassed.

You see the way he nods softly, see the way the corner of his mouth quirks upwards in a half smile as he reaches up and traces the tips of his fingers across your cheek, along the curve of your ear. He nods until he rests his forehead against yours, noses bumping.

“What do you say we take a break from hunting for a little while,” he says softly, eyes falling closed as his breath puffs warmly against your lips. “Just for a little while.”

He’s sick of the close calls, doesn’t want to think about that day for a while even though he knows he won’t ever stop dwelling on it. This was too much and he desperately wants to have a break from the fear of losing you for a little while.

You take a breath and nod, you nod and you kiss him softly and it settles the nerves rumbling around within him.

“Yeah, yeah I’d like that, De,” you whisper, kissing the tip of his nose down to his lips in a lingering kiss.

That tension of regret still hangs heavy in his shoulders, still hangs heavy in your heart no matter how many times the two of you apologize. He knows you’ll never blame him for pulling over like that, you insisted after all. He knows he’ll never let himself off the hook either. But he doesn’t want to bring it up, not now that you’re safe in his arms once more.

He doesn’t want to bring up just how much he wishes you wouldn’t play tough guy after hunts like these, just how much that day bothered him. And you feel like you could tell him a million times over just how much you love him but he knows, even if you’re beating yourself up for what you said in the heat of the moment he knows it’s just that.

You were home, he was your home. Past the arguments and huffs and puffs and words spoken out of anger. None of that mattered in that moment.

You could apologize all you want another time and surely you would, but you keep yourself in that moment.

—

Tags: @flamencodiva @stixnstripesworld @elegantbutedgy @humanmistakes @agalliasi @campingmonkey @deandaydreaming @lanea-1 @akshi8278 @kidd3ath @taikawho @lyarr24 @happyt0exist

#dean winchester #dean winchester angst #dean winchester oneshot #dean winchester x reader #dean winchester fluff #dean winchester imagine #dean winchester fanfiction #dean winchester x you #dean winchester fic

[waitimcomingtoo]

Trial Failure

Pairing: Peter Parker x reader enemies to lovers!

Read the series or on its own

Masterlist

You were sitting in your car a few months later, sending Peter a text telling him to be safe on patrol. Before you could get out of you car, you heard a knock at your window. You jumped and looked up to see Spiderman standing outside your car with his hands on his hips.

“Ma’am, I’m gonna need you to step out of the vehicle.” Peter said as he rested his hands on an invisible belt.

“What did I do, officer?” You played along.

“It says here that you don’t have a permit for being that pretty.” Peter replied.

“Aw.” You chuckled a little. “You’re such a loser.”

“Shut up.” He laughed. “It’s dark already. Let me walk you home.”

“In the suit?” You asked as you got out of the car. “I feel so fancy.”

“Only the best for my lady.” He said as he took your hand. “It’s so creepy in here. I wish your parking lot wasn’t so far from the actual building.”

“Me either.” You shrugged. “But at least I have a parking lot. May still has to park on the street. She and I complain about it a lot when you’re not around.”

“Well I would also have my license if I wasn’t so busy, you know, saving New York or whatever.” Peter shrugged.

“Shut up.” You laughed as you leaned into him. You slipped your hand into his gloved one and fell into a comfortable silence.

When you passed by the bodega near your apartment, you caught the attention of a man sleeping outside.

“Hey.” He chuckled and pointed at Peter. “You’re that spider guy.”

“You can call me Spiderman.” Peter said kindly.

“Okay Spiderman. And who’s this?” His attention shifted to you. “Spider-Man has a girlfriend?”

“No.” Peter said quickly and dropped your hand. “We just met. I’m just doing my duty and walking her home.”

The man didn’t take his eyes off of you, which made you step closer to Peter.

“Yeah?” The man asked. “And where’s that?”

“Nowhere.” You answered. “Don’t worry about it.”

“All right.” The man narrowed his eyes at you. “I hope I’ll be seeing you again, beautiful.”

“You won’t.” Peter said, trying to keep his tone neutral. “Have a nice night, sir.”

Peter put his hand on your back and quickly lead you away. He stayed silent until you got to your apartment building, the tension between you palpable.

“I shouldn’t come in.” Peter said. “Not while I’m in the suit. People shouldn’t see Spiderman going into your apartment.”

“No ones around.” You chuckled to break the tension. “I think it’s fine.”

“I can’t.” Peter shook his head. “Your neighbor could see me or the cameras could pick me up or-“

“Hey.” You cut him off with a smile. “It’s okay. You don’t have to come up. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay.” Peter sighed sadly, hating to have to leave you without a kiss goodnight. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Once Peter had swung away, you blew him a kiss when you knew no one could see. You went inside and didn’t give the night another thought. Elsewhere, Peter was torn up over what had happened. The way the man had been looking at you was shaking him up. He let it go for the time being, but it stayed with him in the back of his mind.

~

The next night, you were making the ten minute walk from your apartment to Peter’s. You put your keys between your fingers and kept your head straight as you walked. When you passed the bodega near your apartment, the man from the night before noticed you.

“Hey, aren’t you Spider-Man’s girlfriend?” He asked with a wicked grin. You ignored him and kept walking, picking up your pace as he followed.

“You are, aren’t you?” He continued when you didn’t respond.

“No.” You said flatly.

“Yes you are.” He cooed. “You’re pretty.”

You ignored him and sharply turned a corner, but he followed.

“Hey!” He called after you. “Don’t I get a thank you?”

“No.” You called back. “You don’t.”

“You know.” He seized your arm suddenly, making you stop. “I don’t like Spiderman that much. He webbed up my buddy and got him sent to jail.”

“Aw. Poor you.” You said as you pulled yourself out of his grip.

“No, pretty girl.” He shook his head. “Poor you.”

You watched his hand disappear into his pocket and soon heard the click of switch blade.

“What are you doing?” You asked as you backed away from him.

“He took my buddy from me. I wanna take something from him.” The man growled as he held the knife up to your throat. Your back hit the wall as you craned your neck away from his blade. You could feel the sharp blade against your throat and felt a cold panic run down your spine.

“Wait, please.” You gulped as your hand went into your pocket. “Don’t hurt me. I have a baby sister at home. She needs me.”

“Aw.” He said sarcastically. “Do you?”

“I do.” You nodded and pulled something out of your pocket. “She needs me to take care of her. I’ll show you.”

Instead of pulling out a picture, you pulled out your pepper spray and sprayed it in his eyes. He backed away screaming and you took this opportunity to punch him in the throat. He doubled over in pain, so you swiftly kicked him in the stomach and took off. You didn’t stop running until you reached Peter’s apartment, never once looking back. Once you were in his room, Peter caught sight of your messy hair and the tiny red line on your neck and immediately panicked.

“Woah, are you okay?” He cupped your face so you’d look at him. “What happened to you?”

“I’m fine.” You huffed and dropped your bag. “It was that stupid guy from last night.”

“What guy?” Peter asked as he fumbled through his desk for a bandaid.

“The one we passed by the bodega. I saw him again.” You explained as Peter’s shaking hand out a bandaid in your neck.

“What happened?” Peter asked. “Did he hurt you?”

“No. I had my pepper spray on me.” You told him.

“Did he try to hurt you?”

“I mean, I guess.” You shrugged. “I think he just liked that I was your girlfriend. Apparently he’s not much of a Spiderman fan.”

Peter withdrew his hands from you when he heard this as if he was scared to hurt you further.

“He attacked you because of me?” He asked quietly.

“No. He tried to attack me because of you. Pepper spray, remember?” You cracked a smile, but Peter didn’t return it.

“Peter, I handled it. It’s fine.” You put your hands on his face when you noticed how scared he looked.

“He…he shouldn’t have done that.” Peter stammered. “You didn’t do anything. He had no reason to go after you.”

He pulled away from you again and ran his fingers through his hair. He was deeply distraught over this, even though you were okay. You reached out for Peter again but he swatted your hand away.

“Peter, it’s okay.” You said quietly. “I’m okay. Nothing happened.”

“Nothing compared to what could have happened.” He corrected you.

“Look, I was really scared back there. I understand if you’re scared too, but I’m on your side here.” You said softly. “You can’t pull away from me right now. I need you. I need my boyfriend to tell me it’s okay.”

Peter’s face softened when you showed a rare sign of vulnerability. He slowly opened his arms to you and you stepped into them. Peter wrapped his arms around your body and rubbed your back and you took a deep inhale.

“I love you.” He said before kissing the top of your head. “It’s okay. You’re safe now. I got you, princess.”

“I love you too.” You mumbled against his chest.

Peter looked up at the ceiling to keep tears from falling down his face as he held you. He let out a deep sigh as he rubbed your back, silently thinking about the effect this would have on his future.

Especially his future with you.

~

“Some guy attacked Y/n because he saw her with Spider-man the night before.” Peter said as he set his lunch down. Ned stopped eating and let his jaw drop.

“Are you serious?” He said with a full mouth.

“Yeah. I put one of his friends in jail so he went after her. She had nothing to do with it but he still targeted her. Because of me, Ned. It’s my fault he went after her.” Peter sighed and rubbed his face.

“Dude, it’s not your fault.” Ned said. “You didn’t know he was gonna do that.”

“But now I do.” Peter stated. “And it’s only gonna get worse from here. I mean, you’ve seen the guys that have gone after Mr. Stark and Pepper. What if some guy tries to hurt Y/n to get to me? Someone a lot worse then some hobo with a switchblade.”

“You don’t know that will happen.”

“But I know that it could if I continue to date her.” Peter sighed again. Ned furrowed his eyebrows when he heard this, jumping to the conclusions of what that could mean.

“What are you gonna do?”

“I don’t think there’s anything else I can do.” Peter said quietly. “I think I have to break up with her.”

“Are you sure about that?” Ned leaned forward to ask.

“How else am I supposed to keep her safe?” Peter’s bottom lip began to tremble. “As long as she’s my girlfriend, she has a target on her back. I can’t knowingly put her in danger like that.”

“But, Peter. You love her. And she loves you. You can’t just end it.” Ned countered.

“I have to end it because I love her.” Peter explained. “I have to love her enough to put her safety over my happiness.”

“She’s gonna hate you.” Ned shook his head. “You know her.”

“Maybe not. Maybe she’ll understand.” Peter said hopefully.

“I don’t know, man.” Ned sighed. “I think you found something really good here. I don’t think you should mess it up.”

“But if she got hurt because of me...” Peter trailed off. “I’d never forgive myself. I can’t risk it.”

“I’ll support you either way.” Ned said. “But only if you stay with her.”

“That’s not really supporting me either way.”

“Yeah. Because I think your way is really dumb.” Ned deadpanned.

“It’s not dumb. She could’ve been killed.” Peter protested.

“Do you honestly think she’ll let you break up with her over this?” Ned asked. “Shes gonna tell you that you’re ridiculous and she can protect herself.”

“Then I won’t tell her my reasoning.” Peter decided. “I love her but she’s stubborn as hell. Especially with me. If that reason isn’t good enough for her then she won’t get a reason at all.”

“Peter, that’s even worse.” Ned whined. “There’s no coming back from that. You know how much she values communication. That will crush her.”

“I’d rather her have a broken heart then be killed.” Peter said simply. “She’ll hate me for a while, sure, but at least she’ll be safe.”

“I don’t know about this.” Ned frowned. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

Before Peter could answer, you sat down at the lunch table with a smile. Peter gave Ned a look that told him to cease all conversation of the breakup, which made Ned look away.

“Hey guys.” You smiled. “What’s going on over here? You both look so sad. Did you break up or something?”

Peter and Ned froze at your joke, giving each other a knowing look. You looked between the two of them and noticed the icy tension.

“Woah.” You laughed awkwardly. “I was kidding. Is everything okay?”

“It’s fine.” Peter lied as he kept his eyes on Ned. Ned stayed silent, knowing he couldn’t lie to you.

“Okay.” You said skeptically. “Are we still gonna hang out after school, Petey?”

“Yeah.” Peter gave you a tight smile. “We can talk after school.”

Ned let out a sad laugh before looking at Peter. He silently picked up his backpack and left the table, not wanting to be a part of Peter breaking your heart.

“What was that all about?” You asked once Ned left.

“I don’t know.” Peter said without looking at you. The guilt was already eating away at him and he hadn’t even broken up with you yet. You changed the subject and started to talk about something else, but Peter barely heard. He felt sick to his stomach, knowing he was acting like everything was fine when he had every intention of breaking up with you. When the bell rang, Peter snapped out of it and looked at you longingly. You gave him a small smile, having no idea what was coming. It broke Peter’s heart to know this was the last time you’d be happy while looking at him. Peter leaned in to kiss you, letting it linger much longer than usual. He figured it would be your last kiss, and he wanted to make it last. When he pulled away, you had confusion in your eyes.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” You asked. “That felt like a goodbye kiss.”

“I’m okay.” Peter nodded. “I’ll see you later.”

Peter avoided you the best he could for the rest of the day. Once the last bell rang, he bolted out of school with stopping at his locker. He had felt sick all day because of his decision. He was so wrapped up in his guilt, he didn’t even hear you knock at his door.

“Hey, Petey.” You smiled as you shut his bedroom door behind you. “I looked for you at the lockers but you weren’t there. Did you run home or something?”

Peter jumped when he heard your voice and whipped around, all the color draining from his face.

“Um. Yeah.” He stammered. “I did.”

You were quick to notice his off behavior and furrowed your eyebrows.

“What’s wrong?” You asked as you approached him. Peter took a single step back from you, so you didn’t move any closer.

“Um…I have to talk to you about something.” Peter said quietly as he stared at your feet.

“Okay.” You folded your arms. “Is everything okay?”

“I think…” Peter gulped and shut his eyes. “I think we should break up.”

“What?” You chuckled as you raised your eyebrow.

“I don’t think a relationship is right for me right now.” Peter lied, finally looking up at you. “I think I need to be on my own.”

“That’s not funny, Peter.” Your smile fell as glared at him.

“I’m being serious.” He said weakly. “I don’t want us to be together anymore.”

“Why?” You asked as your eyes glassed over. “What happened?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I was into it, and now I’m not. So I want to break up.”

“That’s all I get? “I don’t know?” We spend six months in love but all the sudden, you don’t know?” You asked as a tear fell from your eyes. Peter had to look away, knowing he wouldn’t be able to continue if he saw you cry.

“Look, I just changed my mind okay? It’s nothing personal.” He said as he looked at the ceiling.

“Really? Because it feels a little personal.”

“We can still be friends.” He offered. “We said we’d give this a try, and we did. It just didn’t work out.”

“So the trip to the graveyard, you telling me your secret, bringing me to meet your team, all the kisses in your bedroom and the sex in mine, was all of that it not working out for you?” You asked him.

“No.” He swore. “That’s not...this isn’t about that.”

“How am I supposed to believe that?” You raised your voice. “Did you just use me for sex? Is that all this was? Some twisted way to get into my pants?”

“No.” Peter shook his head rapidly. “I loved you, I just-“

“Loved?” You cut him off and laughed sadly. Peter watched as you wiped the tears from your face with a broken heart.

“I’m sorry.” He said sincerely. “I wish I had something better to tell you. But my mind is made up. We can’t be together.”

“What did I do?” You whispered through your tears.

“Nothing. You didn’t do anything.” Peter promised as he took a step towards you, needing to hold you. This time, you were the one who backed away.

“Then why don’t you want me?” Your voice trembled as you struggled to look at him. Peter let out a ragged breath, shaking his head to try and convey that he didn’t mean anything he was saying.

“I…I don’t know.” He croaked. “I just don’t.”

“How do you not know?” You yelled tearfully.

“I just don’t. I’m sorry. I didn’t know my feelings would change.”

“But how could they change so fast? All those things you said to me, “That’s the only pain I’ll ever put you in”. ,you mimicked his voice, “Was all that just bullshit?”

“No.” He stated. “I meant it when I said that.”

“And I believed you. God, how could I be so stupid?” You cried.

“You’re not stupid.” Peter began to cry as well. “You’re just not what I want.”

“Not what you want?” Your voice was barely above a whisper as you repeated his words.

“I just don’t want to be in a relationship right now. Can you please try to understand that?” He begged, trying to salvage any sort of relationship with you that he could.

“No. Fuck you. I hate you.” You whimpered.

“You don’t mean that.” Peter said as he stepped closer to you.

“Yes I do. I never should’ve given you a chance. I fucking hate you, Peter Parker.” You cried as you hit his chest. “I wish we never met.”

“Please, don’t leave.” Peter pleaded as you grabbed your bag. “We can still be friends.”

“I don’t want to be your friend. I don’t want anything to do with you.” You sniffled as you went for the door. At this point, Peter was deeply regretting his decision. He knew he should have told you how he was feeling instead of acting irrationally.

“Wait. I think I made a mistake.” His hands began to tremble as a panic ran down his spine.

“No, I did.” You told him. “The mistake was believing you when you told me you loved me.”

“I do love you.” Peter said weakly.

“Then why are you breaking me?” You yelled at him. You and Peter fell into a defeating silence, both standing there with tears falling. You looked down at your feet and wiped your face, sucking in a sharp breath before speaking.

“You said you’d never break my heart.” You said quietly. You slowly looked up at Peter and sized him up and down with your eyes. In that moment, he was no longer the boy you grew to love. He had reverted back to being your enemy, and so you had just one word for him.

“Liar.”

With that, you turned around and left his apartment. Your word suck into Peter like venom and he felt physically ill. He stumbled back and fell down on his bed, his full emotions finally being felt. Peter put his hand over his mouth and cried so hard that he began to dry heave. He was realizing much too late that Ned had been right. With the way Peter was feeling, he knew he had not made the right decision. He just chased his first love away in a mess of tears and shards of a broken heart.

~

You ignored the calls and texts from Peter for the following week. He didn’t want to bombard you, so he sent his usual good morning and goodnight texts with a little “please talk to me” at the end. After three days of tearing up whenever his name popped up on your screen, you blocked his number.

May let you in one night when he was on patrol so you could collect your things. You grabbed the shirts and underwear you kept in his drawer from all the times you “accidentally” slept over. You took your chapstick on his bed table, hairbrush on his dresser, and the toothbrush you kept in his bathroom. You held the box of your things against your hip and looked around his room. He had your project, the one that initially brought the two of you together, framed on his wall. You looked down at the ground, feeling like you might break if you looked at it, and left his room.

“Did you get everything?” May asked when you came back into the kitchen.

“I think so.” You said quietly, not trusting your voice not to break.

“I don’t understand him sometimes.” She frowned. “He loved you so much. I can’t understand why he’d do this.”

“Yeah.” You smiled tightly. “I can’t either.”

“Come here.” May opened her arms to you and you stepped into them. She blew cold air on your neck as you cried against her shoulder.

“He’s the smartest guy I know.” She said as she rubbed your back. “But he’s also incredibly stupid.”

“I know.” You laughed through your tears.

“He’ll come around.” She cupped your face and wiped your tears with her thumbs. “I can tell that he already regrets it. Give him a few days and he’ll be begging at your feet for forgiveness.”

“Maybe.” You smiled sadly. “Thanks for letting me in. I should go before he comes back.”

“Wait. Before you go.” May said as she took a bottle of body spray out of your box. She took your hand and lead you to Peter’s room, where she sprayed the body spray into the air.

“There.” She smiled. “That’ll torture him when he gets back. He’ll think he’s being haunted by you.”

“May.” You laughed at her ingenious. “That’s so mean.”

“He was meaner.” She shrugged. “I’ll see you soon, Y/n.”

You said goodbye to May and went to your next stop. This one being the Avengers tower. Tony put your face in the facial recognition system, so you had no trouble getting in. You got most of your things from Peter’s room, but took a page out of May’s book and left something on purpose. After collecting the rest of your things, you went into the kitchen. You slammed the box on the table and let out a loud sigh. An equally distraught sigh coming from behind the box made you jump out of your skin. You moved the box to the side and lo and behold, Bucky was sitting at the table scribbling in a small black notebook.

“Oh, sorry.” You blinked a few times to gather yourself. “I was just collecting my things. I didn’t think anyone would be here.”

“I’m not usually here.” He said without looking up. “But I’m making amends and Stark is on my list.”

“Amends?” You asked curiously as you fixed your hair. Bucky put the notebook down and looked up at you, his piercing gaze sending a chill down your spine.

“I’ve done some bad things.” He said simply. You gulped and looked him up and down, which he noticed. You weren’t really thinking straight when you walked over to him and ran your fingers through his messy hair.

“Wanna do some more?” You said slowly. Bucky moved away from your hand and gave you a strange look.

“What?” He asked you.

“I like doing bad things too.” You shrugged as you played with his jacket. “And I like having bad things done to me. If you’d like, I could show you.”

“Aren’t you dating the spider kid?”

“Nope.” You popped the p. “Not anymore. I’m free to do whoever, sorry, whatever I want.”

“How old are you?” Bucky narrowed his eyes at you.

“Old enough.” You cracked a smile and traced your fingernail down his face.

“So am I.” He said as he caught your hand. “Old enough to be a fossil. You don’t want anything to do with me.”

“Says who?” You pouted as you put your knee between his legs. You were leaning over him now, giving him no choice but to look at you.

“Says me. Goodnight.” Bucky got out of his chair and brushed past you.

“Wait.” You said, and he stopped.

“What?”

You walked up to him and wrapped your arms around his neck, drumming your fingers on his back.

“I’m 18, I’m hot, and I’m really fucking horny.” You told him. “Why don’t you stay a while?”

“I was 18 almost 90 years ago.” He replied. “You’re a child. It would be really wrong.”

“But it would feel really, really good.” You whispered. Bucky stared at you for a long time as he contemplated it.

“You don’t want to do this.” He said finally.

“Yes I do.” You insisted. “I always have. Why don’t you show me what this arm does?”

“You don’t want me.” He repeated. “You want me to take your pain away. And you want to do it in a way that would hurt Peter the most. Am I right?”

You slowly took your arms away from him as you realized he just read you to filth.

“How did you know that?” You wondered.

“I go to therapy.” He shrugged. “A lot of therapy.”

You fully withdrew yourself from him now, feeling slightly embarrassed for coming on to him. Bucky could see that you had taken your guard down and relaxed as well.

“Thanks.” You said sheepishly as you adverted your eyes.

“For what?” He wondered.

“For being a good guy and not taking advantage of a sad girl.” You gave him a sad smile. Bucky cracked an awkward smile back at you, like it was something he wasn’t used to doing.

“I’m not normally described as a good guy.” He told you.

“You’re making amends right?” You gestured to the notebook. “Every one you make is another step towards being a better guy. It may not feel like it yet, but you’ll get there.”

“I guess you’re right.” He nodded a little, like he was too shy to fully agree with you. You smiled kindly at him, feeling like he could use a little tenderness.

“Have a goodnight, James.” You said as you picked up your box of belongings.

“Night.” He nodded at you before you left the room.

You took your things back to your apartment and went straight to sleep. Bucky had managed to relieve some of your pain, even if it was just a little. Ever since the breakup, you’ve been cursing the very existence of men. If someone as kind and innocent as Peter could break your heart, you weren’t sure there was any man out there you could trust. But after your brief conversation with Bucky, your hope was restored.

Meanwhile, Peter was making an opposite discovery. After patrol, he went back to his room and immediately spelled your scent. His eyes glassed over as you looked around, noticing all your missing items. He suddenly got a message from FRIDAY that someone had been in his room at the tower. He swung to the tower as fast as he could, but he got held up stopping some bad guys. By the time he finally made it there, you were gone.

“Damn it.” Peter smacked his dresser as he looked around his empty room. “FRIDAY, did Y/n come in here?”

“Yes.” FRIDAY answered. Peter looked in his drawers and bathroom and just as he expected, all of your things were gone. He sat down on his bed and defeat and rubbed his face.

“If she took all her things back, she’s done with me.” Peter mumbled as a tear rolled down his eye.

“Maybe not.” FRIDAY replied.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re sitting on something.” FRIDAY said, making Peter move. Underneath himself, he found the t shirt of yours that he had been sleeping with. There was no way you wouldn’t have recognized it, and it had been left out in the open. Peter held the shirt to his nose and took a whiff, inhaling your scent once again. A glimmer of hope sparked inside him with the discovery of the shirt. If you left it on purpose, maybe there was still a chance for the two of you.

“FRIDAY, where did Y/n go once she left my room?” Peter wondered. Maybe he could still catch up to you.

“The kitchen.” FRIDAY answered.

“In the kitchen?” Peter asked. “Why would she be in there?”

“You can see for yourself.” FRIDAY said as he projected the security footage onto Peter’s wall. Peter looked up to see you and Bucky in the kitchen, having a conversation. He couldn’t hear the audio, but he could see you playing with his hair and flirting with him. Peter dropped the shirt as a white hot jealousy ran through him.

“Turn it off, FRIDAY.” Peter swallowed angrily. “I’ve seen enough.”

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#peter parker x reader #peter parker x y/n #peter parker enemies to lovers #peter parker x you #peter parker fluff #peter parker angst #peter parker fanfiction #tom holland x reader #tom holland x you

[jae-canikeepyou]

| adjacent | j.jh

pair: jaehyun x fem!reader

word count: 18k+ (unedited & not proof read)

summary: jaehyun turns into a golden retriever whenever the day reaches the most beautiful time; golden hour. a secret he kept his entire life & always wonders how long he could keep it, especially when you suddenly showed up.

genre: au + golden retriever!jaehyun + hs!nct

a/n: idk what came to me as i brainstormed this but by now, nctzens and valentines should know jaehyun’s a golden retriever :3 so i decided to write a plot for this adorable fact T^T heavily inspired with fruits basket and beauty & the beast! i really hope you’ll like it. lmk what you think! enjoy reading lovelies! ~j

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

time was ticking real quick.

he rushed through the bustling people, avoiding the narrow crowds and jay-walked countless pedestrian crossings. he needed to hide. no one should see him transform. there was little time left. why was he so careless each time this happened? his parents and younger brother warned him to be alert at all times. did he listen? no, never did. they compared him to a rock— hard headed and stubborn. but all he ever wanted was to be free.

curses! just a little more, a few metres more! he pant as he tried to catch air. he felt his flesh tingling, his senses doubling and tripling. jaehyun peddled as fast as he could, at least reach the line of bushes by the basketball court. hopping over the plants, he threw his bag aside and jumped off his bike before bracing for the fall.

the now broken bell sounded horrible as jaehyun’s brother caught up to him with his skateboard. “dad’s gonna kill you if you ask for another bike for your birthday.” he sighed looking at the loosened chain while picking up the single-track vehicle and the scattered clothes.

jaehyun transformed to a golden retriever puppy and struggled to come out of the bushes with his tiny paws and body. when he succeeded, he scratched the back of his ears to brush off the leaves stuck to them. “won’t happen, sungchan. i’ve already saved up enough by then. i’m not gonna burden dad for my wants.”

sungchan pressed the bridge of his nose. “you’re kinda being a burden now.” he picked the animal— his brother— up and put him inside his coat, as well as the belongings on the ground. he hopped on the bike and headed towards jaehyun’s campus.

“what did you say?” jaehyun barked tried opening the zipper from the inside of sungchan’s coat.

“nothing.” the younger excused. “but can i have your bike if you actually plan to get a new one?”

“ugh just bring me to the court. i’ll be late for my morning practice.”

the brothers were able to communicate telepathically as they’re related and were both cursed. instead of golden hour, sungchan transforms during the blue hour, which occured at twilight. tracing back to their ancestors, all were cursed for unknown inexplainable circumstances. they tried breaking it with all they could. every idea ended a failure. so they had to live through it, adjust, adapt and be alert.

they bumped into ten, kun and jungwoo, who were doing warm-ups and they simultaneously trailed their eyes and heads towards the jung brothers. seeing the huge pouch on sungchan’s stomach area, they all cracked up and checked the time. “oh yeah, it’s sunrise.” jungwoo spun the ball on his pointer finger.

ten grabbed the pup with one hand and jaehyun barked at him but he couldn’t understand a thing. although he was confused, he continued to carry him in his palm because jaehyun’s response was funny. “what is he trying to say?” he chuckled and poked the pup’s snout.

“he said ‘it hurts. put me down idiot’. i have to be honest with you hyung. holding us by the back of the neck really hurts.” unlike his brother, he was rather calm and collected despite already imagining the pain.

“you’re a blue holland lop bunny. it’s normal to carry you like this too right?” ten showed the pup to sungchan.

kun facepalmed at the question and took jaehyun. “no dimwit it’s not normal. sorry jae. you know he just likes teasing your puppy form.”

“‘wait until i turn back’- ugh seriously do i really have to translate hyung’s words every time?” sungchan gave jaehyun’s clothes and bike to jungwoo. “you know what to do when he transforms back yeah?”

they nodded and upon seeing the kid leave and headed towards his campus, jaehyun couldn’t wait to turn human. he would always beat ten up almost immediately— sometimes forgetting that he was naked. for the dudes it was alright. the problem was if he was with girls, though he hasn’t encountered anyone so far. he hoped he didn’t have to.

the harsh drills from basketball practice already sucked the energy out of jaehyun. not only that it was physically tiring, transforming into a dog twice a day before that have doubled the strain. then him transforming back would cause migraines and painful joints, as they were the aftermath of the curse. he had to keep his title of m.v.p and captain since the told them there was a possibility of him of having a scholarship for college. he couldn’t let a minor pain hinder that chance. not ever.

however, ten and the others could read his suffering. to them it was obvious through his exhales and slowing speed. hiding it was of no use. jungwoo ruffled his hair with a clean towel after shower. “can’t you just be like that dog in the movie ‘up’? have a collar that translates barks into actual language?”

jaehyun rolled his eyes and wore his black t-shirt. “it’s a damn movie, jungwoo. the world might’ve evolved and advanced in technology and even if they were to exist they’d be expensive. can’t afford that.”

“you sound negative, don’t you have any hope at all?” kun joined the conversation.

“never had any. stopping this curse is impossible. it’s been generations. my dad’s still suffering too. i have to find a way.” he fixed his black cap in front of a mirror.

but he knew there wasn’t. silence loomed above them as the team struggled to continue the topic. they tried not to bring it up yet each time they did, it always ended awkwardly and badly. it was either they riled jaehyun’s mood— mostly ten— or jaehyun himself was building his own raincloud by sulking about it and not looking at the bright side.

how ironic it was, he thought. generally speaking, even though being golden had good intentions and the breed was meant to bring happiness to others, he felt the total opposite. if he had to describe it, it was all insecurity, lowered his self-esteem and hopelessness only increased over the years as he grew.

thinking about it, he slammed the locker a little too hard that its components caused it to bounce back.. and also added to fuel of his anger. “break that again you’ll be in the coach’s office.” kun tied his shoelaces and the others agreed.

“my dad is the coach, what do you mean?” he questioned at the stupidity.

“you didn’t show up the last time it broke. we got the punished in your stead. uncle wasn’t happy.” ten got out of the showers last, a towel was wrapped around his waist before the younger ones were scarred for a second.

“it was sunset and i transformed! of all people dad’s supposed to understand! i-” jaehyun rubbed his face quite agressively and headed straight outside.

“oi i’m still changing! wait up!”

jaehyun kicked the bike’s stand attached to the rear wheel. he and his father didn’t have the best relationship compared with other kids, but he could say that it was better than the relationship he had with his mother. she loved her little family, yet over time the curse grew onto her. her husband would turn into a werewolf at full moon. and until now, even though that happened once month, she thought a part of him wasn’t the same person she loved before. even more so, when her sons were just the same as him.

your mom’s delusional! she doesn’t love us! she fears us!

that feeling stayed in the boys’ mind until they were old and mature enough to comprehend the situation they’re in. why couldn’t she love them like any mom would? she was no different from an animal mother abandoning her calf/pup just because they were or had defects.

mr. jung tried his best to be the perfect father, for only he understood what his two sons were going through, as they might go through decades with it, just like he was. jaehyun still remembered his first transformation, he only had puppy paws, but that was a sign to mr. jung that he indeed inherited the curse. when sungchan grew a tail at a fine age of one, their father gave up his 9-5 hour office job to tend the boys. and that was before he became jaehyun’s basketball coach. now he could monitor them at a close range.

much to jaehyun’s dismay and for that reason, he felt more caged and overprotected.

—

“y/n! coach’s looking for you!” your classmate called.

no.. you groaned. again?..

it was already after school hours. you slouched on your desk as you covered your ears, remembering the errands he asked you to do previously. you didn’t know why, but ever since you had detention because you refused to run a 1600m marathon for an assessment, seemed like the other punishment was that he passed his job to you. that was a month ago, and today was the tenth time.

but curious as you were to find answers, you brushed it off and tried not to show any remorse. it’s all for conduct, you kept telling yourself. the whistle echoed the entire hallway and jolting you up in your seat. “okay, okay! hold on!” you yelled from the back of the classroom.

as coach jung stood rather comfortably outside the room, he gestured you to walk faster with a dimpled smile. “y/n! took you approximately three minutes to walk here.” he laughed and handed you several files and a zipper folder.

“thanks for counting?..” you replied with a confused and questioning tone. “coach, what’s this?”

“all school sports teams will have an annual retreat before their playoff seasons. i need a representing manager since ours was admitted to a hospital just today.” he pointed at the list. you followed his finger and it landed on your name.

“sounds like to me it’s more practice. and you want me to go because?” you raised your brows. he asked you to follow him to the gymnasium, in which it was making you recall all those extra detention after school.

“to make up with all of the p.e assessments you ‘purposely’ missed.” he said proudly while looking at his team doing drills. but he didn’t get any response from you. when he looked on his side, you were gone and ran across the basketball gym. “y/f/n!”

you squealed as embarrassment crawled your entire body. not only were you escaping from coach, you were disrupting the team’s practice and hitting couple of duffel bags and water bottles. “ah! sorry! coming through!”

*whistles* “after her!” coach jung’s voice added an extra chill to your spine.

“ugh why us?” ten groaned with sore muscles as coach gestured to them widely.

“just go.” kun panted.

then you heard a several footsteps turn into drums until they sounded a stampede. you jumped on your toes as you passed the line of showers cubicles. good thing you haven’t seen a naked man, or else you’d faint without knowing. you turned around and went straight ahead then to your right, and hid in a random room. the echoing voices and squeaking friction between shoes and waxed floors were cut to a silence, like your ears were muffled instantly.

your wobbly legs were tired and you were sighing in exhaustion and crouched down against the door. great, i’ll stay out of their sight- “what are you doing here?” you heard a low voice and froze on the spot. “only members of the basketball team can access the meeting room.”

that sounded like the captain.

“did you hear what i just said?” he raised his brows. you slowly lifted your eyes from his shoes to his legs, then to his built and face. “well if you’re a nobody you might as well leave before coach arrives. you interrupted my recording-”

“i heard you jung jaehyun.” you tsked and realised you had the name list on your hand. “ah, as a matter of fact, i can be here because i am part of the team. my name’s on the list.” you grabbed a pen and ticked the empty box on the paper.

what are you saying, stupid?!

“uh-huh..” jaehyun trailed, putting down his camera.

“y-yeah!” you stuttered. “you heard me.”

the door shook by the loud knocks from the other side. on the frosted window, you could see four figures. orange and black jerseys, they must be the team members. “ah! the door’s locked! she’s definitely in here coach!” one said.

“i’ll toss you the keys!” he yelled. oh crap. you were caught in between. your heart patterned with the knocks.

“you look terrified after hearing coach, y/n.” the chair squeaked from the weight. “i’m guessing you’re that troublesome student he has a hard time dealing with recently?”

of course captain knows you. great reputation you have, y/n.

“so? what’s your point?” you stood up to see his amused grin.

“say hello to a term’s detention.” jaehyun waved as the door swung open, revealing ten, kun, jungwoo and.. the coach.

you sighed heavily and dropped the papers. the coach crossed his arms and you lowered your head a little. “you plan to escape again y/n? then i shouldn’t hear any excuses from you. you’ll join us for the twelve day retreat. period.” he picked the papers up and wrote something.

“sir i can’t be with a bunch of jocks for that long!” your whine had the captain blocking his ears. “i have debate finals to attend to.”

jaehyun flinched at the high pitched sound and rolled his eyes. what was your deal? it was rude of you to suddenly barge into athlete’s quarters but judging them for that was even more rude of you. he had to shut you up at some point.

“so much excuses.” he played with his nails and to you he looked more amused than ever. you rolled your eyes at his chuckle and know he would target you from now on. “dad, y/n told me she’s ‘part of the team’.” he played his video that recorded your voice, clearly saying what jaehyun heard.

coach jung looked rather surprised, but his smile definitely screamed happy. “oh? that’s all i needed to hear. welcome, uh- temporarily. i’ll inform mrs. park about the situation.”

nononono- “i did this.” you were at a loss for words. “i won’t be able to compete in the debate.”

“yeah pretty much you made the wrong decision.” jaehyun stood to tower over you. “i’d like to see you suffer our drills-”

four knocks cut jaehyun off. “oh no, she’ll only do those for two days.”

you swifted your head in confusion, seeing coach jung wrote down your schedule on the white board. you were packed and it’s a lot worse than the actual assessment planned in school. “and what about the rest of the ten days?!” you exasperated that your hairtie snapped at the right moment, and your hair fell in sightful way.

“ooh that was hot.” ten commented in soft whisper, causing kun and jungwoo nudge him on the each side.

“she’ll be our manager for the remaining days, keep track of our drills and score points, or other extra things i needed a hand with while taeyang’s in the hospital.”

jaehyun rested his palms on his waist, swirling his tongue inside with a provoking gaze at you. “see if you can keep up, manager.” he chuckled.

you checked the time, it was nearing 5 p.m. “you know what, give me a day to process all this sport thing. it’s close to evening and i have to get going-”

“it’s evening already?” jaehyun cut you off as he looked outside the window.

the sun glistening at the distance while the sky showed a pretty ombré of warm colours. his senses doubled again and his whole body ached. he had to make you leave. it was already enough that his friends knew about his situation. there’d only be more trouble if you knew too.

“uh duh? the clock’s right there.” you pointed.

“hm, anyway you have to leave now.”

“sheesh i was going to anyway.” you rolled your eyes, but felt jaehyun’s palms behind your back. “hey stop pushing!”

“you’re too slow!” his tone changed. different than the usual because panic was what you felt from his palms. “quickly!”

the rest of the boys could tell you were pissed. they couldn’t understand why jaehyun had to make a fuss out of it when all he had to do was to kindly ask you. using force would only cause misunderstandings, like what’s happening now. “hey what’s your deal?!” you flicked his arms. “do you like to push people around? just because i’ll be with the team for the next two weeks, that doesn’t mean you could treat me like this already!”

“tsk so noisy! you’re wasting time! just leave would you?!” jaehyun turned you around towards the door.

this time you wouldn’t budge. “no jung jaehyun i need an explanation with this stupid attitude of yours!” you wriggled off of his hold, pushing him back with pats several times more that he stepped backwards.

“i don’t owe you an explanation!”

“you definitely do?!”

“why can’t you listen to what i say?”

“why can’t you stop being pushy, pushy?”

“you’re the one pushing me! time’s ticking y/n!”

the continuous back and forth of bickers and the war of pushing each other was an idiotic sight. your wrist was in jaehyun’s palms as he gripped you tighter. “i don’t care captain jerk! it wouldn’t bother you or hurt you to just give me one reason- and he slammed the door at my face! argh!”

jaehyun smirked wide and proudly knowing that he ‘won’ argument. silencing you was better than letting you see his other form. the boys stared him once he turned around to face them. “what?” he questioned,

“definitely not the right way to treat a girl.” they all said simultaneously.

“you know how bad it makes me feel when you all said it at the same time?” jaehyun pressed the bridge of his nose.

he knew well enough that this wasn’t his usual self. he’s good friends with you despite being in different teams of the school. you both took literature as your electives. sometimes you’d let him copy your notes when he had matches or leave small appetisers and juice cartons when he was tired and vice versa.

but no matter how close you both were, he couldn’t afford to let you see his other self.

not just yet.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

waking up so early in the day to assist the team was way more annoying than birds chirping by your bedroom’s window. instead of hearing their tuneful tweets, you had to endure endless phone calls every minute. you couldn’t remember much from that day because you passed out. and the team didn’t look for you until yesterday.

coach jung waved to catch your attention, only to be greeted with your huge yawn and a disinterested face.

“ah there she is! c’mon now, i got the green light from mrs. park. she agreed that p.e is the only subject you’re likely to fail this semester, so she’s giving you a cool-off from the team and focus on here.”

“yep. heard you coach.” you tied up your hair, only listening to half of what he said. “where’s the captain?”

kun did few stretches & jumps, his expression mirrored the other two boys who were also doing the same. you had a feeling about this— their telepathic gaze and awkward silence. you took a basketball to pass it to ten. “is he still mad about me calling him a jerk? that was a few days ago and i didn’t expect him to be that sensitive.”

they laughed because they couldn’t deny his obvious trait. “he doesn’t show it but somehow you know he is.” ten passed the ball back to you. “but not this morning y/n. he’s late for.. another reason.”

you hopped to catch it yet you were a second late, and groaned as you had to run far to retrieve it. “uh-huh. nature calls in the morning, again?” you yelled.

“do you think she knows about jaehyun?” jungwoo asked the older ones. they eyed you rummaging in the bushes for the ball, later looking back at each other for answers, but no one knew how your mind worked. “it’s been five days and no word from her at all.”

“if she actually does, i guess she just doesn’t want to be involved? i think we can trust her for that.” kun drank from his bottle.

ten didn’t look convinced. “involved or not, we have to make sure she doesn’t tell anyone about jaehyun’s curse. keep an eye on her-”

“ah!” they heard your squeals and ruffles from the bushes. “guys look what i found!”

kun sighed when they saw you running back with a golden retriever puppy in your arms, taking back his words said earlier.

“uh-oh. that scream means she has no clue at all.” jungwoo brushed his hair up.

“this puppy is so cute! i wonder what it’s doing here? are you lost?” you hugged and sniffed into its fur and gosh it smelled like vanilla shampoo. there was a metal collar around its neck, the piece spelled “jj”. “aww it has a name!”

no matter how happy you looked from the boys, they couldn’t help but take a photo of you and ‘puppy’ jaehyun. they had to tell you before it was too late. the golden hour in the morning was shorter than sunset, so either they would tell you straight up, or let jaehyun transform back to human.

but guess what? they were too late. they shouldn’t have second-guessed.

what had happened was way beyond your comprehension. it was in an instant. all it felt in totality was that, you weren’t carrying a puppy anymore. you lost balance and the weight in your arms doubled or tripled, you couldn’t tell. but you knew you were falling backwards. was there to brace for impact? none.

you blinked several times from the orange sunrise blinding your vision from the window. slowly you got up to sit and soothe the pain. that hurt..

here’s the thing. remember you mentally told yourself you hoped you didn’t run into any naked boy in the basketball team’s showers? there you have it. you jinxed it. jaehyun’s figure was on top of yours and you knew he had no clothes on. oh goodness.

“hyung? you forgot your lunch box- oh.” sungchan barged in the scene and everyone could tell he sort of malfunctioned. he froze then facepalmed.

you took turns into looking at the embarrassed jaehyun and at the boys who whistled to avoid the numbers of questions you were going to ask.

kun quickly shielded your eyes where your doubts were showing in your face. and no matter how much thought hard, you just couldn’t believe it. with fear written all over you, you dusted your pants and hands reached kun’s arm to support your weight.

“oh so you shielded her eyes but not my body?!” jaehyun’s voice entered your ears and you swore there was a hint of puppy whimper.

“this is a dream.. right?..” you asked before you fainted.

sungchan managed to save you from the fall. “whoa! ah, i had a feeling something like this would happen.”

—

“was she always like that?” minnie took a peep of your classroom, her eyes showed confusion. “is she tired?”

lisa shrugged and in her innocence she pursed her lips. “i don’t know. she’s been sighing a lot for the past hour? i wanna ask her but it might be too personal.”

you could her them and they were wrong. it was nothing personal at all. you’ve been sighing because you didn’t know how it was possible but it just happened— right before your eyes. since then you hoped that science could explain but not even the smartest people could give you a conclusion. you’ve been called out from lessons that came in the day and not that you didn’t blame jaehyun.

because for one thing, he at least told you the truth and the answer to your question as to why he had to make you leave that day. you propped your chin on your palms from jaehyun’s warning: “tell anyone i swear i’ll make you run a hundred laps with no water breaks.”

but the other thing? he was naked. and that’s not something you could erase in your memories overnight.

you let out a small whine that led to minnie and lisa copying your position, obviously making fun of you. “seriously, not a good time.” you laid on the table and hid from them. “don’t ask me anything.”

minnie and lisa looked at each other as you were being unreasonable and already gotten them curious with your remark. they both grabbed each of your arm, tugging on your sleeves where they begged nonstop for you tell them what had happened. they knew it was about the basketball team.

since you started to train and be with them, you’ve never complained. because if you did, coach jung would add another exercise for you, in which you knew you couldn’t handle. broken bones and sore muscles awaited for you. so you chose not to utter a single sigh, but you were careless just now and there was no escaping from these best friends of yours.

“c’mon y/n! tell us the deets! you sighing could only mean one thing.. did someone confess to you?” minnie closed her eyes and a wide smile suddenly became shrieks of laughter when you facepalmed. “oh who in the basketball team confessed?” she singsonged.

it’s not really a confession, jaehyun being a golden puppy is a secret that was never meant to be revealed but i happened to see him transform-

“what if it’s not a guy? maybe two? or three? oh gosh this is like a reverse harem anime-” lisa began to hype an awful assumption but you covered her lips. and plus? her voice was loud and how embarrassing it would be when the rest of the class heard it.

you were already restless at their energy. “none you idiots. i was sighing because i didn’t know that people with dimples would be that attractive.” you tried to divert the topic.

“pfft you’re talking about jung jaehyun?” lisa raised her brows and grinned teasingly to get a reaction from you.

“no, i’m taking about coach jung.” you hit her arm.

“but jaehyun’s his carbon copy, so you’re basically saying he’s handsome too.” minnie quickly rebutted.

“i mean, coach’s the original face so he’s definitely more handsome-” you paused. shoot they nearly got you to a corner. “wait- why are we talking about this? i thought we’re talking about me.”

“ah you were paying attention to our conversation?” minnie’s eyes grew.

“you’re not telling us anything dimwit.” lisa hit you back.

couple of squeals echoed the corridor and your classroom door crowded with people. apparently jaehyun stood by the door frame and scanned the room looking for you. when he spotted you, his face bubbled up and literally glided his way to your seat. you could tell he was slightly fuming, but you didn’t know what reason. “y/f/n! come here for a second!” he grabbed your wrists and pulled you up from your chair.

you tried to catch up with his pace as he continued to pull you. “let me go!”

jaehyun did in fact let go of you, but he instead led you to hit your back against numerous lockers. the squeals didn’t stop there and how that you were the centre of attention amongst all of the students, you had endure this for a little while. he was staring into your soul, eyes piercing that could strain yours, you knew he was pissed about something.

he slammed his forearms at the space right above your head, then the screams of giddy began to grow louder. you managed to see your friends at the far end of the corridor. they were smiling and lisa mouthed ‘kabedon’, making you flustered than you already were. “what do you want?” you asked.

“i thought i made myself clear?” jaehyun smirked as he felt you quiver against his skin. he leaned lower that his whispers tickled your ear. “did you tell anyone? your friends?”

“i’m not gonna risk my health for some dumb secret.” you rolled your eyes and crossed arms.

“please it’s not like our training puts your life on jeopardy-” jaehyun butted back.

“it’s safe with me. if there’s anything you’re worried about, just look at your fanbase. you’re making them sad.” you sighed, walking away and through the girls who has been following jaehyun around.

jaehyun exhaled at a rather slow pace. he liked your reaction and was aware of their presence. and in order to shoo them away, he had to do what he did. he just hoped you’d notice that too. “see you after school!” he yelled.

you briefly stopped in your tracks at his greet, you continued walking and pulled your girls away from the scene. you didn’t pay any attention, but you knew they couldn’t contain their smiles appearing on their faces.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

the bags full of foldable cones fell to the floor. the rest of the team turned to your direction, who already made mistakes on the first day of camp. they knew that you were obviously flabbergasted with your encounter. it was funny that you managed to stride your way so quickly towards jungwoo— he was very much entertained with your expression. “i know right? that was me earlier.” he stroked the large pup.

“h-how did puppy grow so big? that’s an adult sized dog! you stuttered but hiding your love for golden retrievers just wasn’t possible. there were times you forgot that this was actually jaehyun. “it’s only been a week.”

“yeah i’d like to know the reason too.”

suddenly you heard jaehyun’s voice. it felt like he was close to your ears again, but he wasn’t anywhere near you.

remains of memories probably were still in you head. you wouldn’t say you were traumatised, just surprised. why the hell am i hearing his voice? you shook the thought off at first but then again-

oi y/n. beside you. i’m talking to you!

what?

you gasped and fell on your butt. the pup’s ears were on alert and you knew he was hearing you too. “you can hear me?” jaehyun’s dog form practically towered on your fallen self. you avoided his look although the pup was so cute. his paws poked your shoulders, whiskers twitching as he waited for your response. “don’t look away! you can hear me right??”

all the guys could see was jaehyun staring down at you. and while you did the same, your knitted brows only meant something was definitely going on. they wanted to know. “what’s wrong y/n?”

your lips shook in heavens knows it was fear. “you’re asking me what’s wrong? why can i hear jaehyun? can you hear jaehyun? oh my g- this is really really weird-”

“you can?” they scooted closer to you, very much intrigued with your gift.

“and you all can’t?” you pushed jaehyun away for his body was weighing you down. he whimpered and got up to sit in front of the boys too.

they shook their heads vigorously. “only sungchan and coach were able to hear him.” kun stated, typing on his cellphone to inform his family.

“y/n! let’s talk when i transform back!” jaehyun’s paws kept poking you again. you glared at him with a loud hiss. his ears were alert, he didn’t realise that he was clawing you already, and turned a few rounds before he was laying like a bagel-shaped position.

jaehyun thought it was pretty strange. never in his life were there any people who could actually converse with him telepathically. other than his family, you were the first and he was determined to find out why this impossibility was made possible. there was a spark of hope forming in his heart at this sudden revelation. the glow from the orange light then shone above your head, marking the end of sunrise.

you looked at jaehyun’s dog form, it was- correction, he was.. quiet, and was still staring at you as if you were his master. he laid on this front legs, snout on the ground. huh, he can actually be behaved. footsteps were closing in. at the distance, coach jung walked with lisa and minnie, who were in their cheerleading uniforms. right, you forgot that they were also included in the annual athletes camp.

for a moment you panicked because you knew jaehyun would transform back from being a dog. ten and rest knew more people shouldn’t know about jaehyun’s curse. they were glad you read the atmosphere too. seeing jaehyun’s jersey in his duffel bag, you grabbed it and wore it on the animal.

coach jung made eye contact to your direction. he diverted the girls’ attention, and led them away from the basketball court. they headed towards the storage to “retrieve” some equipment.

jaehyun grunted and growled, his fangs tried to bite your skin. however, goldens were known for having a soft jaw, so his bites weren’t that painful. when you finally managed to put the jersey on him, jungwoo couldn’t catch up. “why let him wear the jersey?” he questioned.

“so he wouldn’t transform back naked when lisa and minnie arrives.” you pointed out the obvious.

ten held his laugh in. you recognised this tone, and prepared what came after. “heh..” he trailed off. “is it because you want to keep jaehyun to yourself?”

you continuously threw random items at him as heat spread to your cheeks. “screw you!” you scoffed. “get jaehyun to wear his pants. i have to pack a lot of things before we head onto the bus.”

“yes ma’am.” ten nudged your shoulder. “i’m kidding y/n. don’t take my jokes seriously.“

“it’s fine.” you picked up the fallen cones. “you’re worried about people knowing his curse. so i’m just doing my part to keep it secret.”

he pursed his lips and his heart softened at your willingness to help. “hm, i guess i can trust you after all.” ten opened the bag to help you pack. “oh! and also, jae in his dog form already is naked anyway.”

“you think i’m not aware of that?” you rolled your eyes.

your friends already have settled themselves inside the coach bus and you were seated in between them. now they would get to witness you with the team and hoped for a budding romance with any of the boys. you lowered your face under a cap to pretend you were sleeping, but in reality you just wanted to avoid lisa and minnie’s bombardment.

few rows at front, jaehyun stared by the window, deep in thought. rarely spoke a word since they started their journey to the retreat campsite. why was his hunch telling him to get closer to you? why could you hear him and he could hear you? he slightly turned to his side between the gaps of two seats. seeing you giggling with your friends had him rethinking if what happened earlier was just his imagination. he wondered why you purposely ignore him after he transformed back.

he slid lower from his seat. “i’d understand if this was a soulmate thing, but it’s not.” jaehyun sighed heavily where he broke the silence and supposedly ending the conversation earlier. now that he wanted to talk about it, his friends were still up for the news.

“oh yeah. those things are going on. except it only happens to some people.” kun popped a chip in his mouth.

“i just don’t get it. dad told me that never occurred to anyone with this curse.” he stole the bag of chips from the younger one to relieve his emotions.

jungwoo’s pursed his lip in wonder. “maybe the curse in another light has its own blessing? maybe you guys are soulmates?”

“nah, impossible.” they all said simultaneously.

“it’s a possibility-” jungwoo’s face soured where wrinkles appeared on the sides as the boys flared at him.

jaehyun shrugged not knowing what to say. his friends have bizarre ideas throughout the journey, and he wouldn’t say they were wrong either. all he could do was to wait until the next transformation. maybe you would say your thoughts about it through telepathy.

he would know if time passed quickly when he didn’t pay attention to anyone. one of them was the number of times you waved in front of his face to snap him back to earth. “jaehyun?” you laid on the ground and called out, panting to catch air after your successful reps. you tugged the ends of his track pants.

“hm?” he hummed, looking for your voice until he got annoyed with your repetitive pulls of his clothes. “ah stop that. i have to report your record to coach. come with?”

“do i really have to?” you whined. “i could barely stand, my legs are wobbly and i’m hungry.”

jaehyun rolled his eyes and took your hand, pulling you up on your toes. “then let’s grab something to eat on our way to the camp, hm?”

you gulped at the sudden gesture, even more so when you noticed your heart beating faster around him. somehow your sixth sense told you your friends were somewhere in the woods looking at you, and you were right.

minnie had her binoculars by her eyes as you and jaehyun headed in another direction back to everyone else were. she held in her excitement with a huge inhale. out of curiosity lisa stole the binoculars from her. a growing smile showed her pearly whites when within its frame, jaehyun was pushing you from the back before he took your hand again because of how slow you were. “min, consider your reverse harem dream for y/n over. we found her leading man.”

—

“few more reps y/n! do it properly this time?”

jaehyun rubbed his face, raising his tone in question of your athleticism. it was the second and final day of your assessments. your core should be able to get used to the pressure if you’ve done the reps for two straight days. so as of today you salute to all people who persevered and with great stamina. you just.. weren’t that person.

you’ve grown conscious now that jaehyun’s friends were watching a few metres away. you’d prefer kun counting and timing your exercises over him. in contrast, kun’s a little more understanding than the hotheaded jaehyun. “if i say i can’t, shouldn’t you consider stopping here? it’s the last one anyway so put random number on the blank or something.” you struggled to lift yourself up from the ground, arms in an ‘x’ position over your torso.

“is that so? then you wouldn’t mind if i write ‘0’ for the final count?” jaehyun checked the stopwatch while his knees put enough weight on your feet. “at least do five more?” he sat on the soles of his shoes.

“ugh! fine!” you tsked and did sit ups slowly, eyes shut closed.

jaehyun smirked with how determined you were in finishing. and he has gotta credit you for having the last brain cell to endure his overly playful bossiness and plans up his sleeves.

but even his friends has something up in their sleeves. they whispered to each other and nodded heads as excitement already boosted their anticipation. ten cupped his mouth then giving the raised brows as signal to start. “y/n! jaehyun’s recording your expression with his phone!” ten yelled.

jungwoo’s mouth widened and followed along. “jae! there’s a bee behind you!”

“what?!”

“where?!”

the moment you froze and opened your eyes after bringing yourself up, and jaehyun leaned forwards to avoid the insect, was way too hilarious for the guys to see. both of your faces were centimetres away from each other and jaehyun’s ears already tinted pink. jaehyun already found it awkward to help you for three days, but he never prepared himself for something like this.

as his friends bursting out laughing, that was when he realised it was all their plan. you were still too close to him, so he cleared his throat to cut the gap between. “is that a pimple on your nose?” he asked, only for his nose to be smacked and soon be numbed. “agh!”

what the- “jerk! don’t point it out!” you kicked him and rolled sideways to stand up, angrily leaving the area with the sheet in your hands. “i’ll give this to the coach!”

jaehyun held his nose and walked back to the guys, who were still laughing their butts off and rolling on the ground. “you can stop now.”

“oh that was funny! it was like a typical ‘ba-dump’ scene in a rom-com!” jungwoo wiped a tear.

“should’ve recorded it!” kun threw his head back while his hand rested on his heaving chest.

“no worries! at least it’s recorded in jaehyun’s mind!” ten cheered with closed fists.

“it’s embarrassing!” jaehyun threw his towel.

bonfires were mandatory at the start and end of the camp. however, because of your assessment, coach jung had negotiate with the other members of the basketball to get to the campsite a day before the other teams actually arrived at night. so for the kun and the rest, they had a little more free time than jaehyun. and him being the coach’s son.. he didn’t have the same benefits. he was stuck with you because he had to keep an eye on you while

he thought being with you would only be for the first two days, then he would go for his training. and yet here you were, sitting beside him in front of the bonfire while everyone else arrived and other danced to their hearts’ content. maybe he could ask you about the telepathy thing? but figuring you were cranky from earlier, he held back.

“can i ask more about your curse? if it’s okay with you to tell me.”

jaehyun nodded, you had the right to. not because you accidentally picked a random puppy then saw him naked few moments later. you could hear him in your head, and that was enough reason to tell you rather than a general information about it. “yeah. i’m okay with it.”

“you said your ancestors had the curse too. was there any specific reason why they had to suffer that your family and you had to be the..” you paused for a while. jaehyun was waiting for your next words, you guessed it was alright to say it. “..collateral damage?”

“right. i didn’t tell you more of it yeah?” he sniffed from the chilly night. “i don’t know how far back in the years it happened. but they said the head of the family casted out his wife because he assumed he cheated on him. he was the only person the wife ever treasured, so when she was accused, she took his pet and killed it. the head found out, he cursed her that her descendants turn into animals. and we’re the descendants of that woman.”

“that’s awful.” you cleared your throat. “i’m sorry you have to suffer the curse.”

“you don’t have to be. i’m just trying to cope with it.” jaehyun chuckled. “how awesome would it be if there was a way to reverse everything.”

“gotta find the blessing then.” you laid on the grass.

jaehyun’s face wrinkled in disgust. “okay you sound like jungwoo.”

“at least appreciate me for trying to lift your spirits up.”

he hummed in agreement.

“or you can just.. let the blessing find you.” you singsonged as you realised how corny you actually sounded.

“fine, and if it’s you?” he had to give a hint of the telepathic communication.

“because i can hear you when you’re in your retriever form? i’m not exactly a blessing but yeah i’d like to know how telapthy works too.” you stared back at the bonfire, flames flickering as the smoke flew in the air. as of tonight, you wanted to be that person who’d be the igniter of that hope he held on. “if i could help out a little, i’ll be happy to help.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

lisa and minnie stared at you, both had their palms under their chins as if their silence asked you to talk. “i can’t eat when the two of you are like this. it’s very disturbing.” you gripped on your fork, hesitant to eat as you took glances between the food and them.

you knew what they were going to ask. not like you didn’t want to share, it was just that you knew them well enough that they wouldn’t stop once they start. the food was getting cold every second passed, due to the wind outdoors, it was more vulnerable. lisa stretched her elbows while holding her poms to be noticed. five days have gone by and even though you were rarely with them in all those days, she had to ensure you’d tell them about the basketball team and your leading man— although you had no idea about that.

“any updates?” she raised her brows.

“nothing is happening with me or anyone in the team, if that’s what you both wanted to know.” you sighed. “i’m just simply taking down minutes.” you said sternly, kind of regret that you answered her and swirled the noodles with your fork.

“are you sure? twelve members should be enough for that.” minnie tied her shoelaces and bent down with a pressed smile when you pout. she softened her gaze when you were telling the truth and that their teasing should stop there. but they knew that the team should know something about you.

“they’re divided into teams. some did the score board while others practiced on their own. of course i have to be the one- why are you pulling my arm?” you asked and eyed them as if they stained your clothes.

lisa twirled on her toes and posed with her arm rested on her waist. “you’re being quiet again.”

“i’m not?” you said monotonously while you munched on your food.

she sighed and grabbed your chin. “you don’t look at me when you’re lying.” she hummed, yet you didn’t respond. “what’s up y/n? something’s on your mind i can tell.”

in fact a lot of things were.

so far in the week, you’ve helped jaehyun theorise solutions to end his curse after practice. not only for him, but his family and extended family too. some have passed not having to enjoy their lives, while others chose to hide themselves from the world. and a small percentage of the family tree actually tried to live through it— that was jaehyun’s family. coach jung was as determined as jaehyun to put a stop into this curse.

not only that thought alone. to you, jaehyun has been rather noticeable. even if you weren’t thinking of him, he’d appear out of nowhere— during your breaks, on your night-walks alone or even heading to the toilet. you’d always bump into him and his presence seemed to be marked in your consciousness now. not that you liked him around, it was just captain was more friendly than others made him out to be. “really, it’s nothing.”

to say that jaehyun didn’t feel same was definitely an understatement. since the start of the freshman year, he knew you were the loud girl with the two hot cheerleaders, but always wondered why you’ve never joined the team. sometimes he would catch you sitting at one corner, dancing along with the routines aside from cheering your friends on as he was heading to practice.

now he took a peek of you eating alone while lisa and minnie showed off their new uniforms. he was about to call you out to help the team, but the girls pulling you almost immediately once you were done had him holding back. “chaeyeon will be arriving soon, and remember the dare was to wear our uniform.” minnie giggled while you begged her to stop, to the point you nearly cried thinking about it. “you agreed to it-”

“i didn’t agree to it! you agreed for me! i had no say!”

jaehyun’s eyes widened at the thought of you in uniform. your yells were getting louder and pitchier. should he be your knight and shining armour? probably not. he’d like to have something to tease you about. for a moment there was silence, he hid behind the corner of a storage building. you were still telling your friends to stop doing what they were doing. but it was two against one, and he knew you were at the losing end.

the door slammed open, your huffs and puffs getting heavier and closer to where he was. jaehyun’s heart beat so fast that when he finally decided to call out your name, you bumped into him and he caught you to prevent you from falling. “i was about to fetch you, manager.”

you felt heat spread your entire cheek because of the attire you were forced to wear. “well you did and i’m here. can we go? my friends are giving me the stares.”

“fiesty, but i think you look alright.” he chuckled when you grumpily walked ahead. jaehyun followed you from behind with his hands in pockets.

what does he mean by that?

lisa and minnie pursed their lips, soon bursting into giddy squeals and continuously fanning each other from what they saw yet the second time. “he was really checking her out.” minnie laughed.

“his ears said it all.” lisa checked her watch on her wrist. “basketball team’s practice match is starting soon. wanna sit in?”

“girl you bet i will.”

even hours later you blew your baby fringes blocking your view. as you flipped the score board and whistles for a time-out echoed the outdoor gym, your friends could tell how uncomfortable you were but they’d do nothing to get more reactions from you. they liked that you entertained them. and what choice did you have? chaeyeon was already taking pictures of you in the uniform you despised wearing.

coach jung briefed the team information on their opponents this season. you wrote down important points, feeling the chill of the early sunset. you couldn’t wait to change into actual soft and comfy clothes, mosquitoes weren’t your friends.

jaehyun listened to his dad repeating the same points- mostly because he got the advice first before others. he heard you hiss several times, you were supposed to jot the notes down. then it got frequent. he tiptoed to see you opposite from him, shooing the bugs away. of course you were still wearing the cheer uniform. he didn’t want to draw attention, so he stealthy walked behind the guys and straight to you.

“trouble?” he asked.

“just a little chilly, that’s all. meeting’s nearly done yeah?” you hugged the file to your chest.

“say so if you’re cold.” he took his jacket off and draped it on your shoulder.

“and who am i to tell to?” your voice challenging him.

he hummed so low that it almost lulled you to sleep. “me. i’m not the captain for nothing.”

you were both busy talking that you and him weren’t aware of time nor anyone else close by. mind you that minnie and lisa were watching the whole thing. you managed to smile even if you were crossed with how you were dressed. like you enjoyed his company.

they couldn’t hear your conversation, nor were your lips were moving. but the body language they saw already proved and confirmed their assumption. they had to tell you. they went straight to you once the meeting was over, and pulled you aside whilst jaehyun was talking about his childhood.

jaehyun raised a brow and chuckled as you were being pulled away. his friends immediately surround him, bombarding him with questions that he wasn’t paying attention to the meeting. “dude, your time’s near.” ten smacked him on the back.

“don’t make it sound like i’m dying, ten.” jaehyun rolled his eyes, but whenever he did, they were always fixated on you. he couldn’t shake off the feeling you were that something to solve the curse.

“be alert than be busted.” ten shrugged, head tilting to where you were. your friends were busy recording you and giggles filled the air. “how are you so calm now jae?”

jaehyun pursed his lips. “with her, there’s no way i’m calm at all.”

“okay now i can’t tell if that answer was from human jaehyun or doggy jaehyun.” jungwoo pointed out.

his friends all looked at each other, jaehyun wasn’t his usual self. it was as if he was dazed but was able to converse with them properly. slowly his naturally peach-like fuzzy cheeks grew more fur, his tail started to reveal. although they were quick enough to hide jaehyun, they didn’t realise the commotion that came afterwards and drew everyone’s attention.

you swifted your head at the boys’ yells and gathering circle, faintly hearing jaehyun’s refusal into whatever they got him into. “stop it! hey!” he hissed.

jungwoo, a little too excited of the drama going on, spotted you looking at them and gestured you to come over too. your friends built up a curiosity and went ahead of you. as for you, you were mentally tired to think of anything.

not until you heard kun’s wavering yet convincing words. “uh.. y’all wanna see magic?” he chuckled nervously as he knew what jaehyun would do to him after all this was over. “quickly because it’ll happen soon!”

you held in a laugh at jaehyun when he was forced to sit down on the grass to hide his tail. “i’ve been trying to master this for months and i thank jaehyun as my participant. who loves animals? give me a name.”

most hands were up and the answers were said at the same time. some didn’t believe him, but others have seen kun’s little magic tricks over the days. so something of a huge scale like this already got them curious than ever.

“ah i hear great ones but i’ll choose dog. now i’ll turn jaehyun into a golden retriever.” he draped a blanket above his friend.

ten and jungwoo bit their lips to contain themselves, holding onto each other as they filmed this once-in-a-lifetime event. the circle enlarged in scale with the poor lad at the center and the golden hour shone over everyone.

“in 3.. 2.. 1..” kun only snapped his fingers then the blanket shrunk in size. your schoolmates were convinced that something was actually happening.

and it was amusing because you were able to hear jaehyun swearing so much in your head.

you let out a giggle. jaehyun was soon surrounded by everyone who wanted to pet him. even your friends went over to the animal. “at least pretend to be happy for them. goldens are known for being clowns.” you told him.

*sighs* “tell kun i’m gonna kill him.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

the silence was all jaehyun ever wanted after the shock he had to go through from kun’s improv few days ago. he’d be thankful for a moment because he actually forgot the gideon hour at the time, but he would soon later be clouded with annoyance that he should’ve been informed beforehand of his actions— not only kun, the others included. they’ve got a part in this too.

his friends seated side by side with bruises and bandages on their faces, jaehyun still giving them the silent treatment. he was cranky about that, yet even more so when there was no progress into finding a solution to his curse. “jae. we said we’re sorry.” jungwoo apologised and felt that he was the only one giving effort to talk to jaehyun compared to kun and ten.

“and i said it’s fine. so stop saying that before i actually don’t forgive you.” jaehyun pressed the bridge of his nose.

after walking up the slope to the cabin with heaves of breaths, you managed to hear their conversation before opening the door. “i refilled your bottles.” you threw them on a duffle bag, not caring whether either of them rolled away. “i have to apologise too, jaehyun. i haven’t come up with anything to help you.” true enough because you couldn’t think straight or have the energy to use your remaining brain cells for that matter.

“ugh it’s fine. i’m not in a rush or anything. not even assigning you to solve within the duration of the camp.” jaehyun squeezed the bottle as thirst continued to drive him crazy, the heat as well, so he removed his tshirt. you averted your gaze and looked elsewhere. maybe you were still a little bothered seeing him half naked after the incident?

ten sought the opportunity and decided to fan the flame even more. “why look away when you’ve seen him already?”

he managed to dodge your hits and you turned around embarrassed. jaehyun could see you fanning yourself from the heat. “it was an accident!” you cleared your throat.

“gah i’m tired. we’re done with practice. we get a day off tomorrow, so can’t we watch a movie? who has disney plus?” jungwoo wiped himself with a towel.

“i do.” kun brought out his ipad. “what do you wanna watch?”

“i haven’t watched that one.”

“beauty and the beast?”

“o-kay, i’ll be going now.” you yawned as you began to feel the exhaustion take over your body. “see you tomorrow.”

the door closed and suddenly you remembered a funny memory last halloween when taeil dressed himself as belle. he blended in with the other ladies that you didn’t realise it was him. either it was the wig’s work or just taeil in general. you found it funny when a bunch of young teens become children again as disney’s mentioned.

your phone vibrated with your friends asking to help them out with their practice. “i came to the camp for the basketball team, not you two.” you left a voice mail. all you wanted was to rest up today. not until a certain realisation hit you hard.

because what if?

it hasn’t been that long since you left the cabin when the boys jolted from their positions. their peace and concentration on the movie already ruined by you. “oh my goodness i think i got it?” you slammed the door.

jaehyun sat up and set his phone aside. “you’re saying it a question rather than a discovery. not convinced.”

“will you be when i tell you if it’s based on that movie?” you pointed at the tablet.

he trailed his eyes to the screen then back at you, a more confused expression on his face. “you expect me to find someone to love me so my curse will be lifted?”

“pfft nah kidding, you don’t seem that loveable anyway.” you stole a lollipop from ten. “okay bye for reals.”

as the door closed, ten unwrapped another lollipop. “bet you he’s thinking of his potential ‘belle’.” ten nudged the boys.

“shut up. i’m not going to base my life on a fictional movie.”

“but it could be y/n. i mean she can hear you.” jungwoo paused the film.

“it’s not going to be her and it doesn’t prove anything.”

jaehyun thought a lot for two things— you keeping his hopes up, the other was you setting his heart in a frenzy and he always hated that feeling. he groaned and dragged himself to bed to place a towel over his face. sure he’ll hold on to that idea you came up with for now. however it didn’t prove on telepathy.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

your heart missed a beat when jaehyun waited for you in front of the cabin you stayed at. he thought you bumping into his torso wasn’t a good way to greet in the morning, whereas you feeling some fur on his tshirt as greeting was any different. jaehyun handed you a file and a little note from coach.

while you read it, you could sense jaehyun was staring, like he had something to say. he retracted his lips when your friends appeared behind you with grins annoyingly appearing on their faces. “make it quick captain. we have things to discuss with y/n.”

“yeah sure. i just dropped by to pass this to you. coach said to make copies. i’ll come back after you’re done with breakfast.” he cleared his throat and announced his leave.

“hm. fishy. he could’ve just left it here outside but he seems like he waited for you.” lisa drank from her cup as you all sat and ate breakfast together.

“right? it’s been days he acted that way!” minnie walked back to the table. “he’s indeed a gentleman, but there are times he’s very hard to approach.”

you unwrapped the sandwich and took a bite. “anyway, what is it you guys wanna talk about?”

“lisa will go first. she couldn’t wait.” minnie giggled.

lisa laid out series of pictures of nature she recently took and were indeed beautiful. “oh my goodness they look amazing!” you sat up. “as expected from someone in the photography club. i bet if you submit these to johnny he’ll regret putting you as backup-”

“really?! i took advantage of the retreat and i made sure they were pretty!” lisa interrupted you and placed more pictures down. “these are my favourite! i’m thinking of sending these to johnny instead!”

however your face turned sullen at the next pictures. they were blurry and almost gone, but it was definitely jaehyun at the background, each one showed he was transforming from human to dog. you paused and your heart did the same.

the silence got longer, you knew you had to speak up, but no words came out. “what’s wrong y/n?”

“you can’t submit these to johnny.” you brushed the first batch of pictures aside and bind latest pictures together.

“why not? you supported the rest of them! how could these be not good enough?” lisa’s voice changed in an instant, like you’ve taken away her pride. she sat back with folded arms, her behaviour scared you a little.

minnie slightly wiggled your hand. “hey, are you hearing to yourself y/n?”

“sorry, i know i sound stupid-”

“you are!” lisa huffed where her cheeks blew up. it was cute though.

“but you have to hear me out.” one thing was for sure, your stress levels shot up high if word gets to jaehyun. you had to prepare for the consequences.

“okay, so why can’t i submit them?” lisa sighed.

you held her hand. “it would be alright to, only if these are not in the background.” you said, pointing out a figure at the background of the subject. it all became clear as day to them when they looked closely. “did jaehyun just.. transformed?”

you were surprised with how quick they were able to catch on. as much as you wanted to protect jaehyun’s family curse, things would’ve turn for worst if someone else had noticed it. i’m sorry jaehyun, this is for your own good.

“we believed kun’s ability of illusion and his magic tricks. ten sent us a video of it and it didn’t really occurred to us that the golden was actually jaehyun.” minnie pursed her lips. “if you think about it, he does look like a golden.”

“how is this possible?” lisa asked with a growing smile, but refrained since transforming twice everyday was nothing good anyway.

“i found about his family curse accidentally. he turns into a dog when it’s golden hour, like sunrise and sunset.” you propped on your elbows.

“it’s a curse? poor lad.” minnie gasped.

a rather sad nod caught them off guard. “the coach signed me up to join this retreat. it’s not only for my missed p.e assessments but it was to keep his curse a secret. a-and now that you know, i’ll be damned if word gets to him. so you have to promise me you both don’t say or do anything..“ you sounded as if you begged. that was how much your the friendship you have with jaehyun meant to you.

“and yeah, that’s my answer. the magic trick was just a cover up to hide jaehyun’s dog form.” they listened and were surprised to hear you like this.

your fidgety hands and nervous breathing was too obvious. if jaehyun was just a friend, you wouldn’t act as if he was your- “oh no.” you slumped down on your arms. “why did i..” you mumbled as your feelings for him became clearer to you.

“oh my gosh. you like him! you like jaehyun!” lisa covered her mouth and changed the lingering negative atmosphere.

ba-dump. i..

“then that means your love for golden retrievers doubled!” minnie hugged you.

“no! it’s b-because you’re putting m-me in the spotlight-” you stuttered when they leaned towards you. “i’m gonna go.”

jaehyun flinched even though he was at a distance. your friends were yelling quite excitingly. you were being chased by them and although it was inaudible. he answered his phone as it was ringing for a while. “what, ten?”

“don’t ‘what’ me!” jaehyun tilted his head from his friend’s volume. “jae where are you?”

“i’m at y/n’s cabin and on my way bac-”

“nevermind that. i can see you.”

ten rushed towards him and looked at the cabin. “where’s lisa?” he squinted his eyes.

“just her and minnie chasing y/n out. i don’t know how but they left the door open. what are you doing here anyway?”

he mimicked a photographer’s gesture and pointed at the cabin. “lisa told me her pictures have developed and i’m here to get them.”

jaehyun flicked his forehead. “and you could’ve asked me instead.”

“they’re confidential and i’m shy if anyone sees it.” ten walked to the cabin.

“gross. just get them and head back quickly.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

you lost track of the days that have passed and there was an unsettling feeling that stayed in your chest. had it been two or three? you couldn’t remember. the basketball team’s practice matches and drills were normal. but there was a difference in air lingering around jaehyun. he still talked to you, kept the same gentle smile and was caring as usual. except whenever he did those, it seemed like he was distancing himself from you, creating an imaginary wall just to let you know your limits and boundaries.

you’d like to think it was because of the pressure coach has been giving him since the play-offs were close to date. but, it wasn’t all jaehyun who behaved that way. ten also distanced himself, his gaze pierced against your skull and thinking about it only caused you to have migraines. you were more scared of ten.

coach jung have asked you to help the cheerleading team, saying you’ve helped them enough. the amount of appreciation he had for you was too much, you couldn’t ask him about how jaehyun recently. yet this was all too sudden that your gut feeling told you otherwise. you planned to talk to jaehyun after the day ends. because in all honesty, something definitely happened.

and the boys left you out of it.

approaching jaehyun was harder than you thought. now you’ve realised it, he was always the one who took the initiative and you on the receiving end took the benefits of his kindness. it was supposed to be the other way around, so why were you taking advantage of this?

if having feelings for him was the reason for that, then you’re really stupid y/n. you laid on the grass in defeat from your thoughts and closed your eyes. you decided to have some peace and nature was your best friend in time like these. chirping birds and crashing riverbanks-

“jaehyun where are you?!”

ah crap. you twitched hard enough that swarms of goosebumps appeared on the majority of your skin. on your stomach, you hid behind the bushes to see jungwoo and the others struggling to find him. even at the mention of his name you were already feeling shy and flustered.

“is he skipping practice again?”

“ah whatever let’s just leave him.”

“i understand why he’s like that.”

“even i would feel hurt if i were him.”

a heavy and deep audible breath from their sudden entry was difficult to hide your response. you tried to leave as quiet as possible. not wanting to get caught, you had to move stealthily with few glides backwards on your knees, eyes glued to the boys’ actions if they looked elsewhere. when you felt something blocking the soles of your shoes, somehow you knew what it was.

“you’re blocking my way.” jaehyun’s irritated tone made your chest ache— in the most painful impact you never expected from him.

quickly you stood up and made sure you stayed out of sight from the boys. jaehyun scratched his temple at your awkward behaviour. he was already in front of you, why were you hesitating to ask him questions he left unanswered? jaehyun pulled a long face when you still remained silent. “if you’re not gonna speak when you clearly have something to say, do i really have to say it for you?”

what the hell is his problem? what’s with his tone? “yeah as a matter of fact i do. the thing is, i don’t understand why you’re being like this. you ignore me but still talk to me when i don’t help with the team anymore, and for some reason you’re mad at me?” you grimaced while leaning on a tree trunk.

there was cynism in jaehyun’s nods and the swirls of his tongue evident on his cheeks. you hated his attitude and all you wanted was an explanation. “whatever this is, i’ve got no reason for you to doubt me, jaehyun.”

“ah, really? ‘cause you just gave me one.” he fished out something from his pockets and as you watched, the item he was holding was too familiar and they were obviously not his. he flicked the sheets and that was when you confirmed they were the new pictures lisa developed.

why were they with him? at the pit of your stomach, a whirlwind of emotions and stressing pressure began, and you didn’t like the feeling at all. “what-”

he threw the pictures on the floor. “other than my family and friends you’re the only one who knows about my curse! and at some point you go against my back telling them to picture me when i’m left clueless?!”

right now you were really afraid jaehyun’s mood would attract attention.

you closed your eyes as he raised his voice. “look i have no idea how you got those but i promise you i had nothing to do with the picture-” you insisted and could feel your blood pressure rising.

“how- how could you betray me like this?!”

your heart fell and instead of feeling bad about him knowing, you felt your head ache with so much anger building up inside you. because jaehyun didn’t bother to listen or let you explain yourself.

“i found you in the background before lisa actually showed those to johnny! it would spread if she did! where’s the betrayal in that?!”

he stepped closer to you, your entire was itching to run away. “i don’t care! you still told your friends! you could’ve said another excuse like kun’s practicing his magic trick or something! you promised me my secret’s safe with you!”

that’s messed up. i did tell lisa and minnie but not because it was to mock him!

“kun was no where to be seen in the picture! what else can i do? lie to them? i know my friends more than you do and they won’t tell anyone!” you raised your voice as well.

jaehyun scoffed, rolling his eyes. “i don’t trust them!”

“well, i do! and you should trust me!” your tone wavering at all emotions hitting you at once. especially coming from him— the guy you developed feelings for.

“the moment you told them you broke my trust already! what else did you tell them, hm? my dad and brother having the curse too?” he brushed his hair in anger when your silence meant yes. “ugh is this really happening?! you told them everything!”

“okay that’s enough-” your vision blurring from the tears wanting to fall.

“i’m asking what else did you tell them?! dammit y/n what could be so important to you than my secret?!”

“well- i-”

“i what?!”

other than the secret, you knew what went after the reveal. then you realised the weight of your words, you couldn’t tell him that you actually like him. you wanted to be selfish this once. “i can’t.. tell you.”

jaehyun started to harbour more resentment towards your reasoning. he found it ridiculous of you to even continue with this conversation. ten already warned him that the secret wasn’t safe with you in the first place. the glimpse of hope faded when he thought you’d be the key, even if you were, trust was still important to him. it was the very thing his mother lacked and you doing so reminded him of it.

his expression darkened and you were afraid of him— excluding of how cruel he was with you on the exercise reps. you were afraid you just broken a promise and put your friendship on a rocky end.

“so that’s it? i’m begging you with my life on the line and you just gave me the most bullcrap answer!”

“you’re being unreasonable!” you yelled.

“shut up! you found about my curse so you should be the one compromising!”

“y/n!” lisa came running with a panicked face.

tsk, wrong timing. “not now.” you mouthed.

“have you seen my pictures?! i told ten to get them the other day but he got the wrong envelope! it’s the one with jae-” she bent down to catch her breath and was taken aback with jaehyun’s presence. “..hyun.”

the boys followed lisa and once they found their friend, you could tell ten’s stares that felt like daggers. he pulled jaehyun away but eyes still locked on you. “what happened?” lisa asked as you mirrored ten’s expression, but your friends could see the hurt in your eyes.

“he has the pictures. i think ten saw them and gave them to him. jaehyun’s mad, he thinks i betrayed him for telling you-”

“no that’s not it!” lisa held your hand and glared at the boys, especially ten, since he was her childhood friend. “you had every right to tell us because the pictures are my works-”

“shouldn’t have said anything further y/n! you should’ve gotten the pictures and told us instead of them! you promised, remember?” ten finally spoke up.

you rolled your eyes. “and what?! you’re like saying i should risk my friendship for his stupid secret!”

his friends turned heads to jaehyun to see his tight-knit brows and softening demeanour. jaehyun frowned and hurt was evident in his face. he was hurt by you, someone he developed feelings for in a short amount of time. “i believed it when you said you’ll help me. or were.. were all those just words to you?”

ah.. that came out wrong.

you bit your lips to say something, but they left so soon after, making your chest squeeze as if your lungs let out the last bits of oxygen from your body.

shortly over an hour, jungwoo watched his friend pace back and forth, nibbling on his nails when the tension grew in their cabin. “aren’t you too hard on her? you didn’t let y/n explain further-”

“i can’t believe her!” jaehyun crumpled the picture after looking at it. “how could she do this to me?!”

“honestly i just don’t think she’s that type of person to go behind someone’s back for her own entertainment.” kun spoke up and tilted his head, avoiding the cup that smashed on his side of his cheek. “perhaps you’re mistaken.”

jaehyun wasn’t in the right headspace whenever his past trauma was reminded or brought up, so no matter how much reason was given, he wouldn’t listen. “do i have to repeat it? she already had her fun when she told her friends to picture me!”

“your explanations are always so conclusive.” kun sighed.

“and your heart’s too soft as usual, kun! so back off!” jaehyun grabbed the older one’s shoulder and shoved him against the wall.

he released him soon after realising that he didn’t once listen to you, but he was too stubborn to take any more excuses. there was one thing he thought you were wrong— weren’t you risking your friendship with him by exposing his secret he kept so dearly? maybe distancing himself more than he did would clear his mind off from the mess.

—

when all sports teams lined up with their designated coach buses the days after, jaehyun slightly put his chin up to search for you in the crowd— in a subtle manner, since he still stood in his decision into having his space from you yet didn’t want it to be obvious to others that he cared for you still.

you knew he was staring from afar. it was a stupid misunderstanding, both of you were in the wrong, but he made you feel as if you carried the blame for this.

sure that was a given, that he would react worse than expected. you were going to take the pictures from lisa anyway, and the guys wouldn’t know that your friends knew. you didn’t expect you’d burst out of anger or that ten took them before you did and made the assumption. it still drove you mad, ten probably convinced jaehyun of your doing since he didn’t trust you at first.

that aside, you decided to ride the coach bus with the cheerleading team. “when we reach school, you can forget about the basketball team and camp. how dare they hurt you?” minnie hugged you as you stared out the window.

“if i had to weigh it, it’s not me who’s hurting. jaehyun is.” you sighed and pat her back. “how do i act if i bump to any of them? i’ll probably do something stupid again. at all cost, i’mma just- *sigh*”

“she’s talking about jaehyun right?”

“yeah she’s still not straightforward about him.”

“we know she likes him. she doesn’t have to hide it.”

“i can hear you both.” you lowered your hat to avoid their gaze.

jaehyun sat beside his father at the front for a change, playing with the blinds to cover sunlight. coach jung knew his silence more than anyone, even if jaehyun didn’t plan on telling him. “i’ve done what you told me to do. you didn’t want to see y/n after the fight. so? did it to any change?”

“no. i kept my distance and i’ll see if she’ll admit her mistake.” jaehyun adjusted the fan above him.

“jae, if only you saw her reaction when i told her to not come see the team. i know you’re smarter than this. you know it’s not all her fault.”

he clenched his palms hard. crescent moons soon showed themselves on the flesh. “where exactly in this is my fault, dad? have i not been patient to wait for curse to be broken? who said that y/n might have a contribution in this? it’s you, dad. i’m not holding any grudge against y/n. i’m just disappointed at her because she’s nothing i ever imagined her to be. goodness’ sake i even like her.” he mumbled at the last sentence, missing the point that his dad could hear it.

coach jung let out a short laugh at the remark. “not sure if you noticed, you haven’t seen y/n working hard at researching about our curse while you boys practiced. she’s always brainstorming at the possibilities, science or not, she’s always looking for ways. don’t let anger cloud you.” his father paused and had a pressed smile. “..don’t end up having small fights like me and your mother. you wouldn’t want it to be bigger than it already is.”

“yeah.. i know.”

you woke up with a thud and saw a rather prominent bump on your right temple through the reflection of the window. arriving at the campus grounds was quicker than you thought, despite being almost a half day journey. you overheard that the basketball team would stay there a little longer and you had to leave immediately because once everyone has gone home, you’d see him. you didn’t want to risk yourself from being spotted after you both fought.

it was a small matter now that you think about that day. stubbornness outweighed understanding in the two of you, and that resulted in immaturity. and if neither of you were willing to admit, might as well make the first move.

but you were stubborn as he was.

once the coach bus was nearing the parking area, the first and only thing you decide to do was get out of the vehicle and head straight home. you wouldn’t let your friends speak and looked at their bus. there sat jaehyun fiddling with the curtain. you then rushed out, covering your face from the basketball team as they too were getting off. “is that what she meant ‘at all costs’?” minnie facepalmed as she saw you walking away quickly.

“oh look, there’s y/n.” coach jung tapped the window to make jaehyun notice you. the way you behaved was weird for him, because it was too obvious you were avoiding getting seen.

“i don’t care.”

“it means you do.” his father messed his son’s hair. “okay, off you go. i’ll cancel the extra practice today and let all of you rest up during the weekend.”

jaehyun’s lips agape at his father’s last minute decision. he wore his cap and slung his bag. “if you’re doing this and expect i’d make up with her, you’ll regret ever cancelling practice.”

“ah c’mon. your old man is helping you out with a girl. can’t you tell what i’m doing, jae?” he laughed at his son’s reaction. he could see himself in jaehyun and knew things would get better.

“it won’t work dad.”

he rolled his eyes and went to where the bikes were parked. he kicked the stand at the rear wheel when his friends caught up to him with their own bikes. goodness why can’t they just leave me alone? “what do you want?” he stood a little to pedal ahead.

kun rode along beside him, eyes alternating at and on the road. “what now? you’re just going to pretend you didn’t see y/n? like nothing happened?”

“how can i ignore that when her figure’s so obvious and literally running away from here? i’m not going to do anything about-”

jungwoo then sighed heavily, causing jaehyun to knit brows. “she looked over our bus you dimwit! that means she thought of talking to you but held back because of-”

“i’ll talk to y/n in my own terms and in my own time! stop forcing me to do things when you think it would work well for me!” jaehyun pressed on the brakes with his palms.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

kun and jungwoo’s eyes followed your swirling fork and the silent air that had been going for half an hour. they thought knocking onto the doors of jaehyun’s closed heart was hard, never expected yours was harder. you wouldn’t say anything after they invited you, claiming they missed you around them.

because it had been two full semesters since then. from what the boys told you, jaehyun lost focus and couldn’t lead the team to the championships. he always fought with his father and would burst in anger, throwing unnecessary fits towards them even though they worked hard to reach the quarterfinals.

this behaviour would happen so often that it began to strain his relationships with everyone on the team. the transformation did a lot worse to his body, he’d get sick and weak, and for over months, he would not transform back immediately within the golden hour ended. it lasted longer. sometimes even the morning after.

it worried them that if jaehyun given up all hope and continued to act that way, the urge to find the solution would never take place. and that he would remain an animal forever. even so, you knew their intentions to invite you today despite feeling sad for jaehyun. and you prepared your answer before they could speak.

“y/n-”

“as much as i love to stay, i’m here to tell you you’ve wasted your efforts. if jaehyun won’t talk to me.. then i’ll just keep giving him space until he apologises first.” you were already losing appetite talking about it.

“and you think waiting game would pull off too, hm?” kun’s dimple deepened, a flat smile seen on the exterior.

you put down your fork. “i didn’t think we’ll last this long not talking-”

ten smirked in disbelief, you forgot he was there too. his presence was almost non-existent as he kept quiet the whole time. “keep it like that. you’re held accountable for making jaehyun the way he is now.”

“ten!” kun scowled at the guy. “i told you not to talk.”

you rolled your eyes that his words hurt more than the eye roll. “why is he here anyway? you said it’ll only be the two of you. unbelievable.”

“to see if you came up with a solution to lift jaehyun’s curse. looking at you now, i guess you didn’t.” he said and you tried your best to refrain yourself from hitting him. “were you mocking him when you suggested it might be the same answer as that disney film?”

“i said as a joke but it might be a possibility. we live in a world where people go through inexplainable experiences that science couldn’t dive in deep.” you sighed.

jungwoo tapped the table to stop the bickering you and ten were starting. “like my hunch says, maybe it’s another soulmate thing i’ve mentioned to you guys at the camp.”

“it’s not a soulmate thing, jungwoo.” kun and ten said simultaneously.

you brought out an a5 sized sealed envelope and the action alone made the boys stunned. “don’t open this. just give it to him. anyway, the sun’s setting. i really have to go.” you passed the item to kun.

it’s suffocating. i can’t stay here long. they saw how hesitating your limbs were, your eyes averting them and clearing your throat several times.

“ten, does this look like she didn’t do anything? this proves she’s trying.” kun took the envelope and hit it on ten’s head.

as you put on your coat whilst standing next to the table, ten sat back with arms crossed. “acting smart, aren’t you? you really think you’re the belle for jaehyun huh? i wouldn’t believe that for a second.”

“i didn’t say anything about me being the solution. i’m still keeping my promise to help him. and trust me, i don’t think i’m belle either.” you grabbed your bag and left, your food gone cold and jungwoo sighed at the air turning worse thanks to ten.

the cash money was placed on the table when kun called the waiter. “please keep the change.” he looked at your slouching figure by the bus stop across the restaurant. it screamed sadness and hurt all over.

the reason for suddenly leaving wasn’t because you were offended with what ten said. of course there was truth in his words. at some point you thought you were someone important to jaehyun, since you could hear him.

you thought you both were soulmates.

you left because you spotted a familiar figure standing by the door. haven’t been seeing him lately only made you feel angry at yourself. you were a coward, you even passed the envelope to the boys instead of giving it to jaehyun yourself. your friends already encouraged you about it, that that was the only thing to narrow the gap between you and jaehyun. it was to show that you were still supporting him.

why are you like this y/n? if you like him, you’d do anything to get his attention and forgiveness. why are you doing things to push him away, rather.. why are you forcing yourself to not care when you still do?

you continued to walk with your head low for another hour, troubled in your thoughts as they’ve been bothering you for many months. snap out of it y/n-

*tug*

*scratch*

the hems of your baggy jeans were pulled and torn with minimal, adorable force. it took you a while to process the animal before you. a blue bunny, what’s a bunny doing here- oh.

“sungchan?”

—

he rose from the bushes in front of their house. you stood there awkwardly while he figures to cover his body after the blue hour. “i’m sorry for asking you to bring me home. i get tired from hopping sometimes.” he grabbed a towel that he was hanging by the gate.

“no worries. i-i’ve seen- nevermind.” your voice softened at the latter.

sungchan pursed his lips to refrain himself from smiling since he was there and witnessed when it happened. “come in, i’ll make you some tea. it’s my way of thanks.”

although he was kinder than his brother, probably more mature, he was still young that you could see through his intentions. you knew he wanted some patching up done between you and jaehyun. you hesitated for a while, but since you were there already, might as well try to talk to him—

even if there was a slim chance of making things work.

you sat on the sofa, slightly still and awkward being in the residence. little sips, light breathing and the soft wind from the fan were only heard within the living area. “did my brother cause you a lot of trouble during the camp?” sungchan asked and knowing that you were silent, he knew jaehyun probably did. “how about now?”

“actually, i think i’m the one causing more trouble for him because i feel like i’m not doing anything to help when i said i would.” you sighed as he continued to listen.

“really? i heard from the others you’re helping so much that it changed my brother.. at the least he’s not cranky.” his nose twitched so adorably that you thought it was derived from being a bunny almost his whole life. “also, there’s that envelope-” he paused while realising how your expression caught him off guard.

maybe he shouldn’t have mentioned it, but he wanted you to know he wasn’t spying on you. he made that clear with his silence.

if he saw that back at the restaurant, that only meant he was there for quite some time. you let out a small smile that he was probably there not for you, but to wait for his brother’s friends. instead of bumping into them, he bumped into you.

“oh, that. it.. has a bunch of handwritten letters i’ve compiled when i struggled talking to jaehyun. i just felt that maybe it’s more sincere if i had to apologise.. y’know, eventually.”

he pursed his lips and nodded. “then why not put those words into actual words? like verbal words.” sungchan’s fingers pointed upwards, hinting that jaehyun was up in his room. “for all i know it’s the most sincere thing to do.”

crap, he’s not expressive but he’s so so mature for his age. it made you feel inferior for a moment.

“but before you do that, i have to tell you something that my dad and brother missed out about our curse. why jaehyun-hyung is more pressured than i am.”

(few minutes later)

you slid against the wall while sungchan went out to do grocery shopping. at the other side of the door, in between the thin gap, you could hear soft breathing; jaehyun was on his bed, sleeping in his dog form and it hurt you since time already passed both golden and blue hour, he should’ve transformed like his brother did. instead he laid there as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

meanwhile, jaehyun knew you entered his room. he pretended to be sleeping and expected he wouldn’t know how to act when he gets to face you. he decided to stay as he was.

until you pat then caressed his head.

he didn’t want to settle or give in for the fact you loved golden retrievers. he blamed on the shallow euphroria dogs easily feel. and because he was in his dog form, the anger he held for you disappeared. but at the same time, was your touch out of care or pity? he couldn’t figure it out. then he could hear the beats of your heart, and that made him sit up. your heart was fast. it was worrying. it was—

“why didn’t you tell me the whole story?” your voice wavered in heaving breaths as he finally looked you in the eye. his ears twitched and he faced the door, knowing that sungchan told everything.

jaehyun shook his body and whiskers moved before he telepathically answered you. “believe me i tried. i hate myself for being sensitive and i couldn’t bring to tell you because i got angry. but you have to know that i value trust more than anything.”

“you know what’s ironic?” you sighed, pressing your forehead as pain began to form. “you didn’t trust me first and and we fought because you didn’t do that. and you didn’t trust me enough that you only told me what, like 50 percent of it?”

of course he knew what you referred to.

he was going to tell you the day he visited your cottage at camp. but he didn’t get to, because ten told him news ahead of him that it ruined the purpose to talk to you. it wasn’t that he blamed him, it was due to the fact he wasn’t prepared for something like that. even for something like this.

because there was that prophecy weighing on his shoulders.

“sungchan said that it has to directly come from you, so you better tell me now before our friendship falls out.” you warned and leaned back against the headboard.

currently your friendship was on the line, wobbling on tight ropes. pushing you further away would do no good.

jaehyun sat and his paws were dignified into a comfortable position. his head laid on a cushion pillow, facing towards you. “fine. most of my family turns into wild animals, and they couldn’t control themselves in that other form. their wildlife instincts overpowers their thoughts.” he yawned.

“and it’s different for me and sungchan. when we were born, when we had our first full transformation, they were shocked to know we turn into domestic animals. we’re able to remember, think and live as if we’re still humans. at the end, it’s either of us to stop the curse.”

“so why did your brother mention that you’re the most pressured? why did it only have to be you?” this time you spoke, there was more depth into your feelings if you spoke. as sungchan said, verbally was more sincere. “you could share the burden with him.”

he sighed at the tone of your voice. “isn’t it obvious? the role is immediately passed onto me not because i’m the first born.. it’s because you suddenly could talk to me.. telepathically.”

“yeah and we couldn’t even figure that one out yet.” you scoffed remembering the times you’ve placed your efforts on that matter and now it had gone all to waste. all because you both had that fight.

he read through your eyes and sensed the intention from your words. plus he hated how you delivered it with that certain tone. “i didn’t bring this up just to blame you for my own satisfaction!” he groaned. “i brought it up so that i can apologise! i was wrong, okay?! i should’ve listened to you instead of carelessly listening to ten-”

you refrained yourself from showing any further hurt. recalling it would only make you cry. “well you were manipulated with ten’s assumptions. you believed him more than me. he had proof while i didn’t. i was in the losing end! not like i expected you to change your mind. so can we just.. get this overwith and tell me what the prophecy is?”

he was speechless for a while. you being straight-forward yet in a pained voice was too much for him. he was already softening his feelings for you and you had to tense it all up again. “‘only one could save those who lay under the curse, for they must be in the correct peace of mind and body to break it before it turns for worse.’”

“and the ‘worse’ means you won’t transform back anymore?” you asked, the prophecy already piercing your heart as you waited for more explanation.

“that and..” he trailed off. “..we lose our humanity too. we won’t remember anything. memories erased like a snap of the finger. and we’ll just be.. another animal.”

you pushed yourself to sit up as your heart clenched tight. “jaehyun! why say it now and not before?”

“because! what is there for you to do-”

you squished the dog’s into a wrinkly mess, to the point jaehyun couldn’t see anything. his paws tried to put your arms down, but even clawing was hard for him to do. then he felt you lean forward to hug him. “y/n? what’re you doing?” you didn’t answer.

crap, this is warm. it feels.. nice. embarrassed, he put his thoughts at the back of his mind. “are you doing this out of pity? do i look that helpless-”

what crossed his mind was that you thought he needed a hug and was the only thing you could do. but you proved him wrong, so, so wrong. and why didn’t he realise it sooner in his life?

“you have to treat yourself like someone you love!”

what?

“you have to fill yourself with it! have you been thinking half-heartedly or do things half-assed because you’re different from people? do you not realise there are people who loves you? you trust them so less that you’re not confident into breaking the curse! because you didn’t really try!”

he froze in his stance, like a bullet pierced through his chest with how true your point was. he didn’t know what love was when his mother left the family. he didn’t dare to open up with his dad and brother, not his friends as for so long he didn’t do that one important thing— trust.

jaehyun thought he did that. he had enough encouragement but only to the level of content. he didn’t expect more as what else was there for people cursed like his family? “why are you so worried or do this much for me?”

“because no one actually helped you!” your arms tightened around him. “your friends were occupied into thinking that protecting you and your curse from others was the safest thing to do. it’s not! it just gets you self-conscious, conceited and too comfortable to not to do anything at all!” everything you said knocked down the pillars of his pride. he wasn’t at all living in humility if his friends did ever help.

“y/n we’re nothing more than friends. how could you be pushing yourself onto my problems-”

“i’m one of the people, jaehyun. don’t you get it now? i l-”

as if the phone line got cut off, he couldn’t hear the rest. you appeared like a television who lost its voice, however, somehow he knew what came after that. he didn’t want to admit it, after spending time with you at camp, he realised his heart felt the same.

you were quick to catch on. the golden retriever just stared at you, you couldn’t hear him as well. not even telepathically. jaehyun laid back down, ignored you and went to sleep. you nudged him, he wouldn’t move. you felt a swarm of blame towards him. if only he told you earlier, he wouldn’t be in this state where he was just another dog. mostly you blamed yourself for not taking the initiative first to fix things. you went along with your anger and his waiting game.

where did it get you? to this.

the one second revelation he heard from you and then fell into slumber, he was standing in front of himself, before a mirror. a series of himself switching from human to animal throughout the years. the glass cracked over his face. as if he entered a new world, he had to prepare mentally for what was to come.

instead he awoke like he only passed out from exhaustion. to only see you hugging your legs, head down with soft sobs and hiccups, he reached out for you yet hesitated. he checked the time, the golden hour was to arrive.

“y/n.” he called out in a low voice.

“no.” you mumbled. “i shouldn’t be hearing him.”

“but you really are, though.”

you shot your head up, tears rolling down your cheeks when you felt his touch— his large palms holding yours. he transformed, you had many questions as you thought it was too late.

confused and tired, you stared at him blankly. processing the guy before you took a whole minute to realise jaehyun transformed back. “is.. is this a joke?” you coughed and rubbed your tears. “i saw you faint- i saw how you lost the light in your eyes- i saw-”

he’s blushing. his ears are red.

jaehyun pulled you into an embrace, he caressed your head as if he held a newborn. “the curse broke around the time i realised i lacked self-care. it was the same time you said it too.”

looking back, he didn’t treat himself right since the beginning. he realised he shouldn’t have looked for a solution or someone to love him. he was the someone he was looking for, and should’ve reflected on himself than to rely too much on others.

“you’re still hugging me.” you said, stopping his trail of thoughts. you pat his back quickly and he was holding you tight. “you’re squeezing the oxygen out of me.”

“can’t i hold you longer? you’ve been so helpful even when i pushed you away. now i don’t really want to let go.” jaehyun whispered. he never felt something like this before— this urge to love someone. “what if the curse comes back when you go away?”

you felt your head bursting with temperatures your body was experiencing now. “you really have to let go!” clearing your throat, you tried to shove him away.

“no. don’t be stubborn.”

“don’t be clingy, clingy!”

“you want me to hug you though.”

“i do but- wait no that’s not- i-”

he squeezed your face between his hands. “you love me, don’t you. and you said i’m not loveable.” he teased and goodness his dimples shot you at the heart. you kicked him in the chest yet he leaned forwards, closer than usual. “i can feel your veins beating crazily.”

ah for crying out loud! “jung jaehyun.” you called him with a stern and plain voice. “get off me.”

“tsk i said i wouldn’t-”

“jaehyun you’re naked.”

hm? he pulled himself away from you, looked down and covered his lower body. ah heavens- “i’m sorr-”

a thud was heard by the door. you both turned heads to sleepy sungchan dropping a parcel delivered to jaehyun while holding a toothbrush with his mouth and prominent bed hair. “uh bro, this is-”

“dad! i think hyung’s in his mating season!”

“i’m so not!”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

because the curse was lifted and jaehyun made it happen, all those who fell under it soon experienced freedom and joy after years of agony and pain and fear. feelings opposite to them showered upon them that morning like spring rain.

you sat in between jaehyun and ten, who haven’t been talking to each since they fought over little things, mainly about you. ten still didn’t believe that you were jaehyun’s girlfriend, because he recalled you guys were not going to mend things.

“so that’s it? it’s so hard to believe. she just hugged you and the curse’s gone? even more so you’re both dating?”

“ten, c’mon dude.” kun brought out his fist to bump yours. “she’ll be hanging with us from now on. you have to stop being a stuck-up.”

ten shrugged in defeat and finally nodded in acceptance. “fine. i’ll let it go. i mean the curse’s broken won’t bother jae anymore.” he turned to you. “i’m sorry y/n. jae and i have been best friends since kindergarten. so it’s kinda a brotherly instinct to protect him. it just comes out.”

“you do seem like the leader of the pack.” you fiddled with jaehyun’s fingers while he draped his arm around you.

“i thought i was the leader?” kun sounded offended, but not entirely.

jaehyun remained quiet. he told everyone what had happened. however, there was still one question left unanswered. what was the telepathy about?

what did it have to do with you and him? he thought about that real hard. were you actually a missing piece in the prophecy or did he misunderstand it? there were a lot of possibilities, a lot of ideas coming up that maybe he figured it wrong. maybe you did contribute to the breaking of the curse-

“ah!” jungwoo exclaimed as flicked the paper back and forth. he proudly showed what he found, putting the pieces together. the paper was moving quickly that the pairs of eyes couldn’t focus or see anything. “i’ve been telling you guys since camp but you wouldn’t listen to me!”

you squinted your hardest to see the words. all you got from the sheet of paper scribbles and connecting lines. the boys started to fight for the so they could read the younger one forcibly shoved in front of their faces.

jungwoo wanted his friends to feel their pride stepped on them, and held on the paper. “read the prophecy again. i’m excited-”

“you being excited about these things is nothing new-” ten yelled, and kun covered his mouth at the loud volume.

“‘only one could save those who lay under the curse, for they must be in the correct peace of mind and body to break it before it turns for worse.’ guys, it’s already hinted in it!” he pointed at the parts he was scribbling on earlier.

he expounded the prophecy was a little misleading. it wasn’t being literal about the right mind and body. they were the results of the having the correct heart, as the two would only be affected greatly if not for the heart.

jungwoo scooted next to you. “y/n, you weren’t only the key to solving it. you were the only person who gave him that push and made him realise he should love himself for who he was. you gave him that peace of mind because you are the heart. as we all know, the mind and body can’t function without the heart.”

“that sounds sweet?” kun blushed even though he wasn’t supposed to.

“yeah sure but the telepathy happening at the same time with my curse was just a coincidence though?” jaehyun asked.

“onto my next point!” jungwoo drew on the paper again. “i realised you told us before that only family members of the same curse can talk to each other telepathically.”

jaehyun’s brows only furrowed narrower. “which doesn’t make sense because she’s not part of my family.”

jungwoo grinned widely, it almost made you nervous but if it was coming from jungwoo, it always had to be something good. “not even us lads can even talk to you with our minds though we’re close like brothers. what if it’s a sign that she will be part of your family? even if the curse’s broken, it still proves my point that you were soulmates all along.”

somehow you knew it was headed to this. what jungwoo’s saying was similar to your hunch. you weren’t confident as he was because at the time, the curse wasn’t lifted. now that it was, you never knew you were actually right.

jaehyun shrunk in his seat after hearing jungwoo’s theory. he looked at you; who was now giggling with the others. he never thought you were his soulmate, it never crossed his mind. you appeared in his life as a shadow at first, before you resurfaced and made it a roller coaster ride. it was an eye opener for him too, you loved him for who he was, his flaws— that being the curse. although there were frequent bickers, that didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy or hate them. he was afraid you’d leave after knowing his transformation.

you didn’t. you stayed. not because you were forced to just to keep his secret, you stayed since you said you’d help. and that lifted weight off of his shoulders. colours came into view more spirited, clouded thoughts in his head faded and everything he heard that were once muffled became clear. he had to compare it like he was reborn.

in the end, you were still beside him, adjacent to him.

#nct #jaehyun oneshot #jaehyun imagines #nct jaehyun #nct 127 #jung jaehyun #jung yoonoh #jaehyun x reader #jaehyun scenarios #jaehyun au #jaehyun fluff #jaehyun writings

[eskelstits]

Okay okay so hear me out:

Jaskier has been acting odd lately, though the bard was either too shy or too stubborn to acknowledge it. At the very least, he was stubborn fool for thinking Geralt, of all people, wouldn’t take notice. Jaskier had suddenly become adamant about more generous rations for his Witcher, started to insist on larger dinners at taverns, and was always quick to suggest another round of food and drink— only to insist that Geralt finish it. The witcher pretended not to notice the way Jaskier watched intently while he ate and hid his wry amusement when the bard hurriedly looked away upon being caught. Geralt had so far played along with these antics in feigned ignorance, admittedly feeling a small thrill as his body started to bulk and strain against his armor. And now that he was paying closer attention, he found himself fond of just how delicate his bard looked by comparison. Armed with his suspicions of what Jaskier is up to, Geralt decides to satisfy his curiosity by embracing the bard’s antics and seeing just how much he can him squirm.

I was thinking some stuffing and size kink ~ with increasingly daring taunts thrown from both sides of the table bc let’s be real neither of the boys would give in easily.

THANK YOU i definitely had fun with this prompt

[ masterpost - ao3 ]

"Are you ill?" Geralt asked the question hunched over the plate of eggs and bacon he was enjoying for his breakfast.

More accurately, Jaskier's breakfast. Geralt had already finished his own serving, but then Jaskier had deftly stacked his own half-full plate on top of Geralt's empty one. To be fair, as it turned out, that particular tavern did tend to dish out surprisingly hearty portions, and Geralt had to remind himself that Jaskier was not a witcher, and therefore did not have the appetite of one. It was not the only occasion on which Jaskier had passed off a good fraction of his food to Geralt, however.

In fact, it seemed to be happening more and more frequently lately. He would demand seconds, larger portions, extra bread or more ale, only to immediately claim that he was full and offer it up to Geralt. After a tough life of fighting for survival, Geralt was a rather opportunistic eater, and so he always took advantage of Jaskier's leftovers. It was … strange, but Geralt could not say he exactly minded it. He did like going to bed warm and satiated rather than starving, tossing and turning and kept awake by his growling stomach. The only thing that really puzzled Geralt was the staring. Jaskier would look at him like Geralt was the most fascinating thing on the Continent whenever they sat down together to eat, but as Geralt had recently discovered, Jaskier would always quickly look away the moment Geralt met his eye.

Jaskier gaped and sputtered for a moment, eyes wide and hand settled over his chest as though Geralt had just viciously insulted him.

"Ill? Geralt, you wound me. I will have you know that I'm positively glowing with good health," Jaskier huffed.

Geralt grunted. Eyes narrowed, he examined Jaskier for just a brief moment longer, then bowed his head again to continue eating. Out of the edge of his vision, he could see Jaskier watching him.

Geralt had been willing to ignore the odd behavior up until his trousers started feeling tight. He still was not quite upset. It was not an overly drastic change, just a slight layer of padding over top of his muscles, making him look more like he did after he had been settled for a while over the winters he spent at Kaer Morhen, but there was a definite difference. Jaskier seemed to be noticing, too. Though he had not said anything about it, he still stared, and whenever he and Geralt fell into bed together, the bard's hands smoothed all over him, wordlessly worshiping Geralt's fuller frame.

Geralt enjoyed it, too. He had always been broader than Jaskier, but putting on a bit of weight had only highlighted that contrast. The day before, Geralt had caught a glimpse of his reflection looming behind Jaskier's in the mirror as the bard stood there checking over his own outfit for the evening's performance, and he had looked almost … delicate in comparison to Geralt. The sight had ignited something deep and primal and exciting in his core, and he wanted to chase that thrill.

No, he was far from upset. He was curious, though. While he had pieced together what was happening, there was still one more question: Was Jaskier doing it on purpose? Geralt supposed he could simply ask, but the thought of setting himself up for vulnerability like that was horrific. He had to find some other way to weasel out the truth. He had to beat Jaskier at his own game.

"Do I look different to you?" Geralt dared to ask that evening while they waited for the barmaid to come back with their dinner order. Jaskier looked anxious for just a brief second, but then he relaxed again and hummed inquisitively as he scanned Geralt's face.

"Is that a new doublet? Oh! Have you trimmed your beard?" Jaskier said.

Geralt hummed. By trade, Jaskier was a performer, but Geralt knew him well enough to be able to tell when he was lying -- or 'acting,' as Jaskier often corrected him. Two could play that game. Feigning ignorance, Geralt nodded and falsely agreed that he had gone to a barber, and he watched Jaskier decompress with relief. When the barmaid returned and set a full plate down in front of each of them, Geralt cleared his throat to get her attention.

"I want another," he said, pointing to his own plate.

"Ah … Another leg of chicken?" The barmaid looked a bit confused, like she was hesitant to believe that Geralt had been referring to the entire meal.

"No. Another plate," Geralt insisted. A brief pause, and he tacked on, "Please."

The barmaid blinked, but she chose not to argue. Rather, she nodded and scurried back to the kitchen. When Geralt looked back towards Jaskier, the bard was staring. Again.

"... Hungry, are you?" Jaskier questioned.

"Very."

Geralt held Jaskier's gaze for a moment longer and watched as just a hint of color began creeping over the bard's cheeks. Without another word, Geralt began to eat. He tore into the half chicken and the hearty portion of roast vegetables he had in front of him, and each time he glanced up, he found Jaskier trying and ultimately failing to be subtle about the fact that he was watching Geralt like a hawk. Geralt thought that he would have wanted to shy away before he managed to get his questions answered, but that was not the case. In reality, he actually liked the attention, those enraptured eyes fixed on him making him feel alight with a strange mixture of pleasure and shame. The barmaid came back with the rest of the food Geralt had requested, and she set it down quickly almost as though afraid of getting bitten if she ventured too close. Geralt grunted his thanks around a full mouth. Jaskier had been uncharacteristically silent the entire time, all the way up until Geralt finally broke for air and a drink of ale.

“Are you … sure you’re going to be able to finish all of that?” Jaskier sounded both tentative and almost laughably eager.

“Yes,” Geralt answered.

He met Jaskier’s eye again, his gaze dark and smoldering. The bard’s throat bobbed enticingly when he swallowed, and Geralt only barely held back a smirk. Whether or not Jaskier had been feeding Geralt up on purpose, it was obvious that he enjoyed the show, and it was always fun for Geralt to try and get him flustered.

“Ah, yes, well … I suppose you have had quite a healthy appetite lately,” Jaskier said. He spoke hesitantly, testing his luck. Geralt pushed right back.

“Someone has to eat all your leftovers.”

“Mm, yes. You are rather good for that.”

Geralt made it about halfway through his second plate before Jaskier was getting restless again. The bard still had some food remaining on his own plate, and judging from the way he kept glancing between it and Geralt and tapping his fingers anxiously against the table, he was hoping to see the witcher finish it off for him.

“Going to eat that?” Geralt spoke around a mouthful of chicken.

He had inched past satisfied a few bites ago, but he could keep going comfortably enough, and he so desperately wanted to see how Jaskier was going to react to his more deliberate goading. Geralt watched while Jaskier blushed and tried his best to act as though he had not been hoping to hear that exact question. It had been painfully obvious. Their many years together had given Geralt the ability to be able to read Jaskier like an open book. Sometimes, it was useful, likely saving Jaskier from some fights when Geralt was able to pick up on the body language that meant foolish determination or rising anger, but other times, like in that moment, it was simply amusing.

“Come now, love, you can’t possibly still be hungry,” Jaskier teased. Somewhat unexpectedly, it sent a jolt down Geralt’s spine. The witcher made a noise somewhat like a little growl, and his pupils widened. Jaskier did a much poorer job of veiling his own smirk. Perfect. Geralt was baiting him, and he was falling for it so easily. “I know you’ve been eating a great deal lately, but honestly … you’re getting greedy.”

Geralt’s heart fluttered nearly as quickly as a human’s as Jaskier scraped the rest of his food onto Geralt’s plate. By then, Jaskier seemed to have accepted that it was useless to hide his interest. He sat with his elbows braced against the table and his jaw cradled in his palms, alluring blue eyes fixed unwaveringly on Geralt. Near the end of his meal, Geralt was at last starting to struggle, the fact that his armor clung to him a bit more than he would have preferred only keeping it pinned in the forefront of his mind just how full he was. Jaskier’s reddened cheeks had only grown more vivid, the color even dusting the tips of his ears. Geralt rarely saw the bard so silent, so unwaveringly focused, usually only when he was in the middle of a fit of intense writing inspiration, and while Geralt felt scrutinized, he was actually enjoying it. Feeling bold, he grunted around his last mouthful and then reclined back in his chair, hoping to give Jaskier a glimpse of his distended belly where it strained against his clothes. Judging from the look on the bard’s face, it had worked.

“Are you finally satisfied, then?” Jaskier asked, and something about his tone of voice had something hot and exciting churning in the pit of Geralt’s stomach. He sounded almost condescending, but in the most deliciously arousing way possible.

“Mhm.” It was little more than a grunt.

Jaskier evidently had very little regard for how sluggish Geralt was looking. Lithe fingers curled around Geralt’s wrist and tugged insistently, and although Geralt easily could have kept himself planted in place if he had truly wanted to, he allowed Jaskier to haul him up onto his feet and lead him upstairs. Such a short trip normally would never have affected him, but with a full stomach weighing him down, Geralt found himself panting softly by the time he and Jaskier had reached their room. Distracted by the unfamiliar feeling of his trousers digging into his skin so tightly that it was almost painful, Geralt had little time to react before he was suddenly backed up against the closed door and drawn into a heated kiss.

“Jask --” Geralt breathed, cut off abruptly by yet another kiss.

Clearly, he had guessed right. Jaskier did enjoy that display, even more than Geralt had been anticipating. Soon, Geralt gave up on speaking, and he yielded to the kiss, lips parting for a teasing swipe of Jaskier’s tongue through his mouth. There was a pleasant warmth against Geralt’s middle that he soon recognized as Jaskier’s hands, kneading gently through stiff leather.

“Look at you,” Jaskier murmured. Geralt bit back a dry remark about how it was difficult to do that with the bard plastered up against him. “You’re getting so big.”

A thrill ran through Geralt at that. He curled his hands around Jaskier’s slender hips and squeezed, drawing him in closer, and Jaskier gasped against his lips. In truth, Geralt did not look too terribly different than he usually did, but there had been a little tone of hopefulness in Jaskier’s voice, a subtle but unmistakable hint that he wanted more. The next few seconds seemed to blur together, but somehow, Geralt had ended up spread out on the bed, staring up into Jaskier’s darkened eyes where he had perched himself on Geralt’s hips. Jaskier’s usually agile fingers trembled with anticipation as he worked Geralt out of his armor, putting him on blatant display. Where he had once been all sharp angles and overly defined muscles, he had accumulated a small layer of padding, and most noticeable of all at the moment was the rounded curve of his belly, warm and full and demanding Jaskier’s complete attention. His hands smoothed over it, rubbing and exploring, interspersed with little appreciative pats and scratches.

“Knew you were doing it on purpose,” Geralt said. Much to his amusement, Jaskier actually looked shocked. “Weren’t very subtle about it.”

“Yes, well --” Jaskier paused, seeming to be struggling to decide on what to say. Eventually, he just huffed, then decided to deflect and taunted, “Are you sure you aren’t just a glutton?”

Geralt smirked. Without any warning, he rolled over, pinning Jaskier beneath him. He heard Jaskier’s pulse flutter. A heated fantasy sped through Geralt’s mind, thoughts of how easily he could subdue Jaskier, how much stronger and bigger Geralt was, how much deep trust it took for Jaskier to lay himself out so vulnerable for a witcher, a predator. Jaskier’s arms snaked around him, and his hands splayed out over Geralt’s shoulder blades. Geralt laid heavier against him and growled in his ear just to feel Jaskier squirm. Jaskier would be unable to get away even if he wanted to with Geralt’s full weight holding him down. Oddly, that was a deeply pleasurable thought, and Geralt had very quickly decided that he would take no issue with it if Jaskier wanted to keep feeding him, making him broader and heavier still, only further exaggerating that contrast between the two of them. If the way Geralt could feel Jaskier’s hardening cock digging into his thigh was any indication, they were in agreement on that.

“Going to get me something good for breakfast tomorrow?” Geralt purred into Jaskier’s ear.

Jaskier groaned, hooked his legs around Geralt’s waist to grind their hips together, and moved one hand to tangle into the witcher’s hair. His opposite hand snuck downwards, and he pinched at the slight, growing plushness at Geralt’s hip.

“Certainly. You’re just wasting away.”

Geralt’s mouth was far too busy then for any proper response.

#fic #prompt fill #HI THIS WAS FUN TO WRITE #thank u :)

[haikyuu-sins]

Hey!!

Ok, first of all I love your writing, it's just soooo good and second, since I saw the requests are opened I wanted to ask for a little scenario, ok here we go.

So it's Law x fem!Reader from the strawhats and both crews are fighting against some kind of enemy and their army, this enemy it's like a mad scientist and shots the reader with a strange sustance but nobody really notices because they are fighting and she doesn't want them to get preoccupied.

The things is, some days later strange white marks begin to appear on her skin and yes, it's the amber lead, she tries to hide it but at some point Law sees it and when I don't know, I will leave the rest to you.

Thank you so much ❤❤

Thank you! I loved how interesting this request was! I hope you enjoy :) (I realized too late into this thatI didn’t make them a strawhat so my apologies for that! I’ve been trying to work on this one for so long and it slipped my mind :( also I’m sorry that this kind of ends a little abruptly, I wasn’t sure where I really wanted it to go in the end

Warnings: Getting shot/blood

****Law x Reader

This was supposed to be quick. An in, out kind of deal. What was going to be a quick trade, ended up being a ruse. When Law was finished with his end of the deal, which was healing a member of this scientist’s crew and in return he’d give Law a medicine that he had been looking for that he would only be able to get from this island.

But things went south as soon as the deal was finished. It all started happening so quickly that you almost didn’t have time to react. Once the sound of a gunshot filled the air, Law was quick to act. He was already after the ringleader and was telling the rest of the crew to fight and stay alive until he got back from dealing with the scientist.

The once peaceful surroundings were now a small battlefield. You watched Bepo and the rest of the crew fighting with the others and you had your own hands full with a few of the men from the other crew. But what you didn’t notice was that there was a sniper off in the distance with a fresh batch of bullets that were coated and infused with different diseases; new and old.

His sights were set on you as you seemed to be giving his crewmates the most trouble. There was so much noise on the battlefield that you didn’t even know where the next gunshot came from. All you knew was that you felt a sharp pain in your thigh, then moments later, another right above your knee cap. Your mind went white for a moment. The searing pain made your head go blank before you felt a fist connect with your face that brought you back to reality.

You wanted to pass out but Law told you all to stay alive because he knew that you could handle yourselves. That meant you couldn’t afford to lose consciousness. Law put his trust in you and the rest of his crew so you needed to show him that you could be trusted.

Blood trickled down your left leg and your pants were sticking to you uncomfortably. You felt useless not being able to even use one of your legs. But no matter how much it hurt, you put your weight on it and continued to fight. Another bullet came your way but this time you sensed it. There was something different about this one. It almost seemed to have some sort of heavy aura around it.

You deflected it with the knife you held in your hand. The bullet ricocheted off and hit one of the men you were brawling with, and straight into his shoulder.

He hissed in pain, not knowing what exactly had happened, but when you saw what that bullet began doing to his body you realized why it was so different from the other two. His skin started to melt from where the bullet entered and he screamed in agony. Your eyes were wide with fear, hoping that that wouldn’t be your fate. While your skin wasn’t melting off like his, you knew that there had to have been something wrong with this bullet as well.

But you didn’t have much time to process what could happen to you because the fighting continued and now you had the added bonus of trying to figure out if there would be a bullet coming at you. In a moment there was a sharp stinging in your side. You heard no gun shots but there was a clear wound in your abdomen.

Within minutes though, everything suddenly stopped, you and the rest of the crew had taken notice that there was a slight blue tinge that covered the area. In that moment, you knew that you could finally relax. Your legs buckled under you and the next thing you knew, you were in the sub.

You ached. Your entire body ached and you heard a soft beeping noise right beside you. Slowly your eyes began to open and you squint. The bright lights nearly blinding you.

Law glanced over and heard the rustling of the bed sheets. “Don’t touch the IV, Y/n-ya.” he spoke as he watched you reaching for it. You sigh and your hand falls onto the bed. “And don’t even think about moving.” he stood from his chair next to you and gently pushed your shoulder down.

Your voice was hoarse when you spoke softly. “Is everyone okay?” glancing around the room, you noticed that there was no one else but you and Law.

“Everyone is fine. I was able to patch them up. You one the other hand were the one who had the most damage done. You were shot three times. I’m not sure why but I couldn’t find the bullets even though there wasn’t an exit wound.”

He had even used his Scan on you thanks to his Ope-Ope no mi but still wasn’t able to find anything wrong. For some reason, you thought it would be a good idea to omit the fact that a bullet that was aimed for you hit someone else and melting the man’s skin off. There wasn’t anything wrong with you now. But what you didn’t know was that the bullets were still inside you. They had dissolved and a deadly and what was thought to be an incurable disease was now making its way through your body.

“I’m going to run some tests-”

“Please, I’m fine! Will you just let me get back to work?”

The look on Law’s face said it all as he turned to you. ‘Absolutely not’ was plastered all over and you knew better than to argue with him, but you felt like a terrible burden.

“You should be doing Captain things, not treating me.” you slumped back into the bed.

“You seem to forget that your captain is also your doctor.”

Your lips made an ‘O’ and your cheeks flushed slightly. “I didn’t forget...It just slipped my mind for a second.”

“I’m going to run your tests tomorrow. You’ve lost a lot of blood and need rest, so I’ll leave you be for a few hours and come back to check on you. Let me know if you need anything. You shouldn’t be in too much pain but I can put more medicine in your IV-that you better not take out-if you need it.” With that, he left the room while you glared at the IV that was stuck in you. It was best that you left it in and you knew it, It soon didn’t worry you anymore and before you knew it, your eyelids fluttered close with the darkness of a promising sleep overcoming.

It was about a week before Law let you out of the infirmary. He made sure you were okay to walk on your own, and he wanted you to take antibiotics for another week in case of an infection. The tests he had taken all came back normal for now. Nothing was out of the ordinary, but he still wanted you to check in with him every so often.

Law was wary of letting you out of his site, something had been worrying him about the fact he couldn’t find the bullets but you spoke of nothing out of the ordinary no matter how much he knew tried to get the information out of you.

The next time Law saw you, you looked like a ghost. He noticed how your knees were trembling and quickly urged you to sit down, guiding you to a chair. “I told you to come by and see me if there was anything wrong, Y/N-ya.”

“I’m fine… really. I’m just a little tired.”

His grey eyes narrowed slightly at you then his brows furrowed. There was a spot in your hair that hadn’t been there before that was beginning to go white--not grey like a normal aging person, but white. Quickly, he grabbed your arm and shoved the material of your sleeve up. You had no strength to pull back and his eyes now widened when he noticed the white patches that were covering you.

“Law it hurts… Everything hurts. I ache all the time and it feels like there’s nothing I can do to make it stop.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this?!” the taller man quickly scooped you out of the chair and rushed you into the infirmary.

“That bullet…I think there was something in it.” you managed to croak out. “One of their guys got shot with a bullet that I dodged and his skin, it started to melt off his body.” You knew that he’d be scolding you after this, not telling him all of the details the first time is one of Law’s pet peeves.

“This could have all been avoided if you told me this in the first place!” While this would be an easy fix for Law, he was still upset that you were putting yourself in unnecessary pain. You didn’t need to suffer and if you weren't stubborn then you wouldn’t be in this position. He knew exactly what it was like to have this incurable disease, but you were lucky enough to have a captain who could cure anything. Including Amber Lead.

He put you on the bed in the infirmary and it didn’t take him long to get this out of your body. On the way there you had passed out which did make it easier for Law work, but he was scared. This disease was supposed to be gone. So how did this scientist get a hold of something this deadly?

One thing he did know--he wasn’t going to lose anyone else to this forsaken illness. Not again. He had already lost his entire family to it and he would be damned if he’d let it happen to his crew.

It only took Law a few minutes to finish this up and make sure that all of the Amber Lead was out of your body. He ran tests on you all throughout the night, almost never leaving your side. It was comforting knowing that the first face you saw when you opened your eyes was him. Though you knew he probably wasn’t the happiest with you, you did know that he would always do his best to save you and that’s why your eyes were opening in the first place.

Besides the quiet beeps of the monitor, the next thing you heard was his gruff voice. “You sure do leave out some important information when it’s needed.”

You bit your lip. “Sorry…”

“I don’t think ‘sorry’ cuts it when you nearly had a death wish. You’d be dead if you weren’t here with me, you know that? What you were shot with was a bullet that had Amber Lead poisoning which is normally incurable.”

“Guess I’m really lucky then, huh?” you smile weakly over to him, hoping that maybe he’ll see the bright side. “I’m alive at least, that counts for something, right?”

“Yeah, you’re lucky enough to be alive so you can do all of the extra chores around the sub.”

“Oh come on!” you groaned out in protest. “This is what I get for pulling thought and making it out alive?!”

“No. This is what you get for nearly getting yourself killed for leaving out information that could have prevented this from getting as bad as it did. Maybe next time you should think twice about being as stubborn as you usually are.”

“But that’s my best quality!”

“Trust me, you have better qualities than that, Y/N-ya.” and with that, he left the room, leaving you with a pink tinted face.

#one piece #trafalgar law #law x reader #trafalgar law x reader #trafalgar law headcanons #trafalgar-law-headcanons #law headcanons #one piece trafalgar law #one piece headcanons #trafalgar law scenario

[sleepysnk]

i finally got around to making some skater!eren fics. i hope you all enjoy ♡!

Skater Guy

Pairings: Skater!Eren Jaeger x Fem!Reader

Warnings: marijuana usage, vaping, mentions of alcohol

"Where are we going now?!"

"You'll see! It'll be fun!"

(Y/N) groaned as her roommate Sasha dragged her throughout the party house they were at. 

Sasha was always the party girl, whenever she needed someone to go with she always dragged her roommate into going with her. (Y/N) didn't have an issue with it, but some of the things Sasha liked to do weren't exactly her cup of tea. Of course, being the supportive person and friend she was, she always came with; plus who knows? Maybe she'd have some fun.

Sasha stopped in front of a door, (Y/N) had confusion written all over her face. "Uh.. what are we doing?" she asked, nodding. 

Sasha knocked on the door. "Going in of course? Connie invited us up here," she replied, looking at her with a grin. 

The door opened and it revealed Connie along with Jean beside him. "Hey! Finally you two made it, come on in!" he said, moving out of the way so the two could enter. 

(Y/N) stepped in with Sasha, there was a strong odor of alcohol and marijuana that lingered in the air. 

"Good to see you (Y/N)!" Jean said, smiling at her. 

She looked at him, "It's good to see you too Jean, how is Mikasa?" she asked. 

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, she's busy with school and all that other stuff. She's doing fine though," he shrugged, taking a sip from his beer. 

She nodded, taking a seat next to Sasha. "So what are we doing?" 

Sasha turned towards her, "Oh! So we're doing a smoke circle, you wanna join?"

Her face suddenly changed to a look of confusion, (Y/N) wasn't aware that this was what they were going to do tonight. She thought they'd just go out drinking, but smoking? She hadn't exactly tried it before. It'd be her first time.

"Uh.. Sasha I dunno, are you sure?" she asked, furrowing her brows. 

"Come on (Y/N)! At least try it, I know you'll like it," she said, placing her hand onto her shoulder. 

She leaned back in the chair, rubbing her temples. What was she going to get herself into? She wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of smoking with her friends, but there were unfamiliar people too, what if she did something embarrassing? 

"Is she good?"

Her attention averted to someone standing in front of her, it was a guy. 

"Yeah! She's fine Eren, it's just her first time," Sasha replied, a nervous smile on her face.

His green eyes trailed over to where (Y/N) was sitting, she felt intimidated by him, he was tall, had brown hair, these bright green eyes, and he wore really nice clothes. It almost reminded her of those guys she'd see on TikTok or Instagram. 

"Alright, well, Connie is getting the blunt rolled," he said, turning away from the two. 

She let out a sigh of relief as she watched the guy make his way towards Jean and the others. Who was this guy?

"Sorry about that (Y/N).. that's Eren, he's one of Connie's friends," Sasha said, looking at her apologetically.

She nodded, "It's fine, but Sasha seriously? I've never smoked and I don't know if I should do it.." she replied.

Sasha turned towards her, "You're gonna be fine, if you feel sick at all just leave the room, okay?" 

Before she could even reply, Connie and Jean came jogging over to the pair. "The blunt is officially rolled! Let's get started," Jean said, a smile on his face. 

(Y/N) swallowed thickly, her mind started to race and she could feel her stomach churning. 

"We'll go around in a circle, who wants the first hit?" Connie asked, holding the blunt into the air. 

"I'll go."

Everyone turned to see Eren holding out his hand for the blunt, in return Connie handed it to him along with a lighter. 

"Don't take two hits I know you like to do that shit," Connie said, plopping down next to Sasha.

(Y/N) watched as he held the blunt up to his lips, he flicked the lighter a few times before the end burned a bright red. She could see him inhaling the contents from the blunt, smoke poured from his mouth as he exhaled. 

"Whoever's next," he said, handing it to the person next to him; smoke still coming from his mouth as he spoke. 

She looked towards Sasha who was bouncing in her seat with excitement. "I cannot wait!" she smiled. 

(Y/N) secretly wished she could be excited right now, but being honest, she wanted to throw up and leave as soon as she could. At some point everyone would be watching her, it made her feel sick, almost like when she was in school and she'd get queasy doing a presentation for class. Only this time, she was smoking.

For some reason, she could feel someone's gaze on her; it was uncomfortable.

She turned her head to meet Eren's green eyes staring right at her. He sat directly across from her and his eyes didn't leave hers, even when she looked at him. She secretly wanted to ask what the fuck his staring issue was but she didn't want to make a scene, especially right now. 

She shook her leg and chewed her lip as the blunt got closer and closer to where she was sitting, and within a few minutes it was next to her, Sasha was taking a hit.

She made it look so easy, the way she just inhaled and blew it out of her mouth without a second thought made (Y/N) want to just get up and leave.

"Here ya go (Y/N)!" Sasha cooed, a lazy smile forming on her features.

She took the blunt from Sasha's hand, her wrist became shaky staring down at it. She could smell the marijuana coming from it, it was strong and the odor almost made her sneeze.

She held it up to her mouth and slowly inhaled, she could taste the drug on her tongue and feel it go down her throat to her lungs. Suddenly, things felt very slow, almost like time was slowed down. 

She felt fine for a good five or six seconds and that's when she felt the tickle in her throat, she coughed, letting any smoke that was in her mouth escape and flow into the air. 

"What a newbie!" Sasha said, giggling a bit. 

A few people in the circle laughed themselves, her cheeks burned from the embarrassment. "Whatever.." she mumbled, passing the blunt to Jean. 

She could feel the effects it had on her, her vision looked funny and she felt like she could take a nap right there. 

"You look so funny right now (Y/N), can you not handle it?" Sasha asked, looking at her. 

She snapped her head towards her. "Are you for real right now? Why do you have to embarrass me everytime this happens?" she asked, her tone sounding angry.

Sasha sat up a bit. "What? I didn't-" 

"Just save it, I'm going home, I shouldn't have come with you." 

(Y/N) stood up and grabbed her things, exiting the room she was previously in. She could feel holes being burned into her head as she left, even in her high state she was pissed at Sasha. It always happened and (Y/N) just wasn't having it at the moment. 

She exited the front doors of the house, the fresh air filling her lungs; it felt refreshing. Being in that stuffy room made her feel so trapped and not to mention that weirdo Eren guy was making her uncomfortable.

She found herself sitting on the curb, a few people passed by and laughed with their friends or cars picked them up. 

Her mind was clouded, she felt exhausted, and she just wanted to go home. Her night was totally ruined and she clearly embarrassed herself in front of everyone, it wasn't her fault she coughed. It was her first time and Sasha just made it worse, all she wanted to do was disappear from that room.

She squeezed her eyes shut a few times, her vision just wasn't focusing and she was surprised that she made it out of the house without falling on her ass or bumping into others. 

She felt her phone vibrate, she clicked it on and blinked a few times to see the messages on the screen; it was Sasha.

Sasha: y/n, i'm sorry :/

Sasha: please come back, i feel really bad..

She rolled her eyes, clicking off her phone, she didn't want to hear it right now. She couldn't even focus properly and she wasn't sure how the hell was she going to get home. 

"God.. why do I do this to myself.." she mumbled, rubbing her eyes. 

"Are you okay?"

She turned around instantly, that's when she was faced with the guy from earlier. Eren. He seemed to be concerned, almost frantic, it was almost like he was searching for her. 

"Are you following me?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. 

He rolled his eyes, "No? Well.. sort of, you stormed off and your friend didn't even go back for you. I decided to see what was up," he shrugged.

She watched him make his way towards the curb, she scooched away from him as he sat.

"Damn, I'm not going to do anything to you. I know we just met but I'm not that guy," Eren said, looking towards her. 

She laughed a bit, "Yeah.. I've heard that one before.." she muttered. 

He let out a sigh. "Look.. I'm trying to be nice and help you out, clearly your friend didn't have the common sense to come check on you, so I decided to," he said. "Plus, you're high and I'd hate for anything back to happen to you."

She finally lifted her gaze off the floor, she could see he had a skateboard beside him. It made her nod; he skates?

"Well.. I think I'll be fine, I just wanted to get out of here," she said, playing with her nails.

Eren chuckled a bit, "You're not fine at all, I could tell when you yelled at Sasha you weren't fine. At least tell me what's up," he replied. 

Well he's stubborn she thought, she kind of figured that there wasn't any way she was going to be able to get away from this guy. He seemed like the type who wouldn't let shit go until someone finally tells him what's going on, plus she wasn't exactly in the mood to argue. 

She sniffed a bit, "Sasha has always been the party girl, when we first met she dragged me to so many parties and it was starting to get crazy. She was the first person I got drunk with, skinny dipped with, hell, even got high with.." 

"And you're getting tired of that kind of lifestyle because you feel like Sasha always dips on you in the end," Eren said, raising his brows. 

She looked at him with surprise. "That's what it feels like to be honest.." she mumbled, placing her hand onto her calves. "She always embarrasses me with her jokes.." 

Eren shook his head, "Seems like Sasha has issues making you seem like you can't do certain things," he said. 

She laughed a bit, "I guess you could say that.. I love her dearly but it just made me so angry when she said that about me. It was my first time and I guess she just forgot that," she replied.

"I'd say you should talk to her about it, if she is really your best friend, she'd listen to what is bothering you. Trust me, I'm sure Sasha will be open ears," he said, placing his hand onto her shoulder. 

Her cheeks suddenly heated up from the contact, seeing Eren up close was definitely different than him just standing over her. She saw the rings he wore glimmering in the moonlight, she could also faintly smell the weed coming from his clothes. He also wore a chain with a small key at the bottom, it fit him so well. 

"I'm sure she will.." she replied, looking at the street.

Eren looked at his phone. "You got an Uber coming or something?" he asked, looking at her then back at his phone. 

She laughed, "No I actually don't.. I was going to call one before you came over."

He nodded, "Do you want to maybe.. get out of here? Not in a sexual way or anything! But you've had a shitty night and I'd like to make it a bit better," he asked. 

She stared at her shoes, she didn't exactly know how to respond to him. Would going with Eren be a good idea? She didn't exactly know him, but she didn't want to wait on the curb for an Uber and sulk all night about how mad she was. Plus, she was high and she didn't want to do something stupid. 

"What would we do?" she asked, looking at him. 

Eren looked at her with a nod. "Anything you want! But I do have one idea.." he said, shoving his phone into his pocket. 

She furrowed her brows, "And that is?" 

He turned and grabbed his skateboard. "Do you wanna learn? It's really fun and it'll be funnier since we're both a little high," he said, smiling at her. 

(Y/N) sat there for a second in silence, she could go home or she could go hangout with Eren and have a good time. Fuck it, why not?

"Yeah! Sure, let's go," she replied, standing up and dusting off any small stones that were on her bottom. 

Eren stood up himself, "Sounds good! Let's go down to the park, it's like right around the corner," he said. 

He took his skateboard and stuck it under his arm, (Y/N) trailed behind him as he made his way towards the sidewalk. 

"So um.. how long have you been skateboarding?" she asked, trying to ease the awkwardness between them. 

Eren looked at her with a smile. "I actually started when I was in high school, sports weren't exactly my thing, so I started to skate and I've been here ever since," he replied.

She looked at the ground, the leaves beneath her shoes crunching as she stepped on them. "That's cool.. you didn't seem like the skater type," 

"Anyone can be a skater, I just don't flaunt it like some people," he laughed. 

Her eyes averted his face, she could see the silver earrings he wore; a cross hanging at the bottom of the ring. It was silver and it shone in the moonlight. 

Eren reached into his pocket, pulling out a bright pink object. "Want some?" he asked, holding it out to her. 

She looked down to what seemed to be a vape, Sasha had always brought those home or she'd find them under her pillow. 

"No thanks, vaping isn't really my thing." she replied, looking forward. 

Eren nodded his head, holding the vape up to his lips; she watched him inhale the contents. A bright red light lit up at the end.

"So what is your thing?" Eren asked, blowing the vapor out of his mouth. 

She could faintly smell the odor of the juice. "What do you mean?" 

He looked towards her, "Well.. smoking isn't your thing, nor is vaping, so.. what is your thing?" 

She chewed her cheek, what was her thing? She hadn't ever thought about it before. Drinking? That sounded lame. Maybe her major? Again, lame. 

"I dunno.. I never really thought about it," she replied, shrugging. 

Eren began to make his way towards the grass. "Come, it's over here," he said, waving her over to him. 

She followed behind him as he led through the trees towards the park, she could faintly see a playground and behind it was a skating area with different drops and turns. She had always seen them in movies, but she never knew there was one this close to where she lived. 

Eren walked past the playground and stood before a drop that led into the whole thing. 

"So this is it huh?" she asked, coming beside him to look. 

Eren smiled, "Yeah, it is. I'm not gonna make you do this though, I gotta teach you slowly," he replied. He placed his skateboard onto the ground, his right foot pressing onto the board. "Let me show you how I do it,"

She backed up a bit to give him room, he used his left foot to push himself forward, within seconds he was moving slowly along the pavement. 

"It's all about balance, I remember my balance was shit, but after awhile you'll get used to it," he said, turning the board to move towards her. 

She nodded, "So kind of like a balance beam?" 

He chuckled, "Something like that, the only difference is you're moving and there's no padding at the bottom," he grinned. Eren slowed down to a stop in front of her, hopping off the board he looked at her. "Want to give it a try? I'll make sure you don't fall," 

She shook her head, placing her items on the ground and heading towards him. "So.. what do I do first?" she asked, looking down at the board. 

He brushed a few strands of his hair out of his face. "Start slow, don't try anything fancy or cool, just go at a normal pace." he replied. "Here.."

She looked down to see his hand outstretched for her to take. She could faintly see the tattoo on his knuckles, along with his silver rings. 

"Put your right foot on the board," he said, laughing a bit. 

She did what she was told, her legs feeling slightly wobbly from the moving board. "Okay.." she said, taking his hand. 

Eren's cheeks grew pink from the contact, her hand was so warm compared to his cold ones. "Good.. now we're gonna move slowly, it's important you don't freak out, or you'll fall over and hurt yourself. Got it?" he asked, nodding. 

She shook her head, placing her other foot onto the board. She could feel it swaying beneath her feet, her hands went to Eren's arms, she could feel his muscles flexing beneath his jacket. 

"Shit! Shit! I think I'm gonna fall!" she cried, gripping his sweater tighter. 

Eren's hands went to her waist. "Relax! (Y/N), I need you to relax. If you freak out, you'll fall on your ass, just breathe," he said, looking into her eyes. 

She swallowed thickly, her heart was racing and her legs felt like they were jelly. The idea of falling wasn't exactly the most thrilling thing ever, she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of him, especially since he totally saw her do it earlier in the smoke circle. 

"Just relax.. I'll slowly start moving you," he said. "You won't fall, not if I'm here," 

Her cheeks grew warm, he sounded so sweet and it started to put her body at ease. "Okay, okay, I think I got it," she said, taking a few deep breaths. 

The board began to move slowly down the cement ground, she squeezed the fabric of his jacket; almost like her life depended on it. 

"Like that.. you got this," Eren said, a smile forming on his face. 

He slowly walked down with her, making sure she wasn't going to fall off. "How many people have you taught?" she asked, looking at him. 

"Uh.. only you," he replied, chuckling a bit.

She looked at him, "Oh! Comforting!" 

He rolled his eyes playfully, "I'm joking.. I have taught tons of people. It's a long process you just have to trust, like right now," he replied. 

Slowly, Eren's grip on her waist loosened. She could feel her legs becoming slightly wobbly again, her hands were clinging to his arms still. 

"Where are you going?!" she asked, frantically looking at him. 

He smiled, "You gotta let go, I promise you won't fall," 

She scoffed as Eren took her hands off of his arms, the board going down the sidewalk a bit quicker this time. Suddenly, she felt like she had the confidence, almost like Eren letting go made her want to go faster. 

"Wait! This isn't that bad!" she yelled, smiling as the board went further down the sidewalk. 

Eren smiled watching her go down the sidewalk, he knew she could do it. "You got this!" he called back. 

He began to follow her down the sidewalk, he wanted to make sure nothing would go wrong; he'd get mad at himself if she got hurt. 

"You're doing really good!" he said, jogging up to her. 

She smiled to herself about it, maybe skating wasn't so bad? It was really fun and she got the hang of it pretty easily.. well not that easily. 

"Wait Eren.. how do I slow down?" she asked, looking towards him. 

He looked at the board and back at her. "Just put your right foot on the end of it," he replied.

She tried to lift her foot, but unfortunately, she got a little wobbly; the front of the board flew up and her left leg got caught. 

"Woah!" Eren said, putting his arms around her before she could hit the ground. 

Her back was pressed against his chest. "Shit.. I'm sorry," she said, looking at the ground. 

He chuckled, "You're good, don't worry about it," 

Eren helped her stand up straight. "Well that was embarrassing.. but it's really fun!" she said, smiling.

Eren liked seeing the excitement on her face, it made him grin, she seemed to be a really cool girl. "It is fun, I'm glad you liked it," he replied. "But we should get back, it's pretty late, not to mention that cops come around here later."

"Sounds good!" she nodded, making her way back to where her stuff was. 

Eren grabbed his skateboard off the floor and followed after her. "Do you have an Uber coming?" he asked.

She looked over at him. "Oh! No I don't, I might just walk back to the party and find Sasha."

He nodded, "I can walk you back," he replied. 

She smiled, "I'd love that."

Eren smiled before making his way down the path towards the house, he wasn't sure what time it was, but for some reason he didn't want it to end. He liked spending time with (Y/N), even though they just met, he felt like they had a genuine connection. 

"So.. do you go to Sina University?" she asked, looking at him. 

Eren nodded, "I do actually! Do you?"

"I do, I can't believe I've never seen you before though," she replied.

She rubbed her arms together which caught Eren's attention, she was wearing a tight black shirt with a skirt. 

"Here.." Eren said, handing her his skateboard. "Hold this for a second,"

She took the board from his hands and watched him remove his jacket, he held it out for her to grab. "Take it, you're freezing and I don't want you getting sick," he said, smiling. 

Her face heated up, "Thank you.." she took the jacket from his hands and draped it over her shoulders.

"It looks good on you," Eren said, eyeing her form. 

She giggled, "Sort of? It's really big though," 

Eren stopped in front of the house, many people still stood around outside talking and music still blasted from the inside. He assumed it probably wasn't too late if people were still around, unless they'd rather stay and get drunk.

"Well, this was.. something!" she said, looking up at him.

Eren laughed through his nose. "It was.. but I definitely enjoyed it. Even if we just met," he replied. 

"I'll see you around?" she said, nodding. 

"Yeah, see you around." he replied, clutching his skateboard in his hands. 

He watched as she began to make her way up the driveway, but something in him didn't want to just let her go. She was sweet, pretty, definitely one of a kind, and Eren didn't want it to be a one time thing. 

"Wait!"

(Y/N) turned around, confusion written all on her features. "Huh? What happened?" she asked, walking towards him again.

He looked away for a second, his cheeks growing pink. "Can I get your number? Snapchat? Anything? I really don't want this to be the last time I see you," he asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

Her surprised face turned into a happy one. "Of course, here, I'll put my number in," she replied.

Eren fumbled around for his phone, handing it to her as quickly as he could. He watched her press the different keys around to enter her number, his heart racing in his chest. 

"Here you go! I'll see you around Eren," she said, waving at him. 

Eren smiled as she walked into the house, maybe he'd have a skating partner sometime soon.

#anime #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #aot x reader #aot x y/n #aot imagines #aot fanfiction #snk x y/n #snk x reader #snk imagines #snk fanfiction #shingeki no kyoujin fanfiction #eren jaeger #eren jaeger x reader #eren x reader #attack on titan fanfiction #anime fanfic #tw: drugs #tw: alcohol